Our innovations for circular water and waste solutions

We are innovating to address the challenges of today and tomorrow

Our established presence at the heart of our communities means that we are a trusted partner for our customers. Accordingly, our mission is to support them with the major ecological transitions and help them use resources more efficiently, more sustainably and more responsibly, and we are committed to working alongside them to:

Address the consequences of climate change

Reducing our own carbon footprint and that of our customers by adjusting our facilities and services and by producing new low-carbon forms of energy in order to achieve a lower-carbon energy mix.

Preserve biodiversity

Protect and restore natural ecosystems by treating water and adopting waste management techniques focused on recycling and reuse.

Reconcile development with social responsibility

Increase the positive impact of our activities on local communities by supporting their human and economic development and reconciling it with environmental interests.

Customer-centric innovation

In order to meet the growing needs of its customers and partners, SUEZ is currently increasing its capacity for innovation

Jérôme Bailly , Senior Vice President, Innovation, Research and Services

We use the passion and commitment of our teams to serve our customers, developing innovative solutions tailored to their needs.

We are therefore focusing our efforts on innovations that are aligned with the 3 key aspects of our value proposition, in order to:

Provide access to water and waste services, with resilient and innovative solutions

We aim to design solutions that ensure sustainable access to water and waste management services, while using the latest technological advances and environmental best practice.

create value over the entire lifecycle of their assets and services

Our approach is to maximise the value of water and waste by reusing and recycling them at all stages of the value chain, in order to contribute to the water and energy transition and preserve natural resources.

Drive the ecological transition, together with their end users

In our view, our mission is not just to provide services but also to collaborate closely with users. We aim to promote environmentally friendly behaviour and practices, in order to contribute to a sustainable transformation of our societies.

To achieve these aims, we are focusing on innovation that is:

We allocate our resources in order to maximise efficiency and achieve practical results for our customers and stakeholders.

We firmly believe that innovation arises from real day-to-day needs: those of our customers, our partners and the users we serve.

We have a collaborative, open approach to innovation, recognising that the complex challenges we face require solutions developed using a diverse range of expertise. We therefore encourage working in partnership and co-creation.

Innovation at the heart of our strategy

To deal with the transformation of the environmental services sector and meet the increasing needs of our customers, we have been increasing our transformation, innovation and collaboration capabilities since 2022.

These greater resources will enable us to fulfil our new ambition, which embodied in our 2022-2027 strategy:

+ 50 %

increase in the budget dedicated to R&D and innovation by 2027

More innovation in waste, with a doubling in the budget allocated to innovative projects to increase the effectiveness of recycling and exploit the full potential of waste as a source of energy

Fourfold increase in the carbon reduction budget.
At SUEZ, we are using innovation as a way of achieving the goals set out in our 2023-2027 sustainable development roadmap.

> 200

research and innovation projects underway within the Group

360° innovation

At SUEZ, we create resilient, innovative solutions that add a large amount of value in technical terms. We also innovate in order to create social value and encourage more sustainable consumption.

We take a 360° approach to innovation, allowing our customers to drive the ecological transition by relying on our strengths:

Our historical expertise in engineering, construction and operations, which enables us to design facilities that are competitive and environmentally friendly and that create resources for communities.
Our ability to offer performance-enhancing digital tools. At SUEZ, we use digital technology as a way of optimising the performance of our clients’ infrastructure, to increase waste sorting and recycling, and to preserve water quality. Day-to-day, our water and waste operational databases support the development of new solutions based on artificial intelligence.
Our involvement in all parts of an innovation’s value chain and development cycle, from design to industrialisation, capitalising on the diversity of our sites and research centres.
Our Open Innovation approach. Collaboration lies at the heart of our innovation approach. This is why we work closely with top universities and other academic institutions, and collaborate with large numbers of innovative startups and small and medium-sized companies.
Supporting customers through behavioural, social and contractual innovation. We are building an integrated ecosystem so that we can have a complementary range of skills, in order to offer innovative financial models and help customers reduce their consumption of resources.

A network combining centres of excellence and experts working in the field

We are able to design and trial major innovations through our research centres of excellence around the world and our in-house network of over 1,100 experts across 20 countries, specialising in 19 areas covering water and waste but also broader topics such as healthcare, carbon and data.

Find out more on SUEZ global website (suez.com)

Our priorities in terms of accelerating the major transitions

To help our customers manage water resources and waste more effectively, we are pursuing innovation projects focusing on eight key themes.

Smart waste sorting

In recycling centres and energy recovery facilities, we are developing data- and AI-driven solutions to identify and sort the various types of waste with a high degree of precision. This is essential in order to recover more energy from our waste and recycle it more effectively.

Carbon capture, use and storage

Carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) solutions help to reduce CO₂ emissions and mitigate climate change. We are developing innovative circular solutions (such as biochar) and working on suitable waste management technologies (energy recovery units and anaerobic digesters).

Decommissioning

From recycling EV batteries to wind turbine blades, we are working to increase circularity in terms of the equipment used in the energy transition and to exploit the value contained in all waste, including the most complex kinds.

Reusing treated wastewater and alternative resources

Through innovative techniques relating to groundwater recharge, increased use of treated wastewater and sustainable desalination of seawater, we are increasing the availability of water resources.

Processing emerging pollutants

At SUEZ, we are making water quality one of the priorities of our research activities. We are pioneering the analysis and treatment of micro pollutants and developing new processes to identify and eliminate complex pollutants such as PFAS and pesticide metabolites.

Processing and upgrading sewage sludge

We are innovating to recover all of the value contained in sewage sludge, which has huge potential for producing local, renewable energy, helping communities with their ecological transition.

Energy optimisation

We are developing software and analytical solutions to improve the performance and profitability of anaerobic digesters and to recover more energy from waste, based on operational data.