Treating pollution – veoliaenvironment.com

We are committed to fighting pollution

Faced with the environmental and climate crisis, we take concrete action to protect the planet. We implement solutions for reducing all types of pollution: water, air and soil pollution as well as environmental pollution caused by plastic waste.

Pollution, a scourge affecting people worldwide

Pollution creates a degraded environment, sometimes the result of natural substances, such as smoke from a volcano or allergy-causing pollen, but most commonly the result of human activities: household or industrial waste, thermal or biological disruption, etc.

According to the Global Environment Outlook report published in 2019 by the United Nations, “the environment has continued to degrade since 1997.” Problems caused by pollution are most worrying in parts of the world experiencing rapid urban growth.

1 in 4 premature deaths and diseases are caused by pollution

What types of pollution are there?

There are several types of pollution, some more dangerous than others:

air pollution, or atmospheric pollution;
water pollution;
soil pollution, including pollution caused by waste plastic.

Air pollution is defined as the presence in the air of substances that are damaging to health and the environment. There are different types of harmful substances, including toxic gases and harmful particles. Air pollution is closely monitored as it is particularly dangerous and presents a real risk to public health. Contrary to what some people believe, air pollution also occurs indoors, where the air can be up to eight times more polluted than the air outside.

Water pollution

Access to safe drinking water has always been one of our central concerns, ever since Veolia was founded in 1853. Today, we identify, study and treat all types of water pollution, paying particular attention to micropollutants. Invisible to the naked eye, these are endocrine disrupters that have the potential to interfere with the human body’s biological system

Air pollution

Air pollution is not only a problem in the open air. According to the World Health Organization, it is responsible for 3.8 million premature deaths every year. We are committed to improving indoor air quality, with programs to improve air-handling systems, and auditing and monitoring systems to raise people’s awareness and make managing air quality easier.

Soil pollution

What can be done about soil pollution? Soil can be given a second life! We develop decontamination solutions for polluted sites and soils, as well as solutions for managing and recovering biogas and industrial effluents.

Plastic pollution

Pollution from waste plastic is another major concern, particularly in developing economies where it is less strictly controlled. We use recycling and recovery to offer new uses for plastics.