Entering into effect on 1 January 2018, this nine-year contract is worth a cumulative €95m for Veolia’s recycling and waste recovery business in France. Combining energy recovery and environmental excellence, this project to improve the Reims energy recovery plant will greatly benefit the region.
Treating the 60,000 metric tons of final waste generated each year by the Greater Reims population of 300,0000, this public service delegation contract maintains the target of continuously improving the site’s energy performance. This will be increased to 65% after works have been completed.
As part of the contract’s renewal, €10 million will be devoted to work on improving the facility’s reliability and its energy efficiency resulting in an overall improvement to the energy recovery plant’s total energy performance. As well is producing heat energy, a new turbo-alternator will be installed to generate more than 12,000 MWh of recovered electricity, that is the equivalent consumption of more than 5,000 people.
The work will also reduce the site’s energy consumption and guarantee its availability for supply to the Croix-Rouge neighborhood’s district heating network. The facility will comply with the major requirements of France’s Energy Transition Law.
Carried out by VINCI in conjunction with Reims architects LINGAT, the work will qualify for the “Greater Sustainable Reims” label. Given all the improvements that will be made to the energy recovery plant, it will become a green energy plant in its own right, thereby reducing Greater Reims’ TGAP (French tax on polluting activities) and delivering savings estimated at €3.1m.
With four certifications – ISO 9001 (Quality), ISO 14001 (Environment), OHSAS 18001 (Safety) and ISO 50001 (Energy efficiency) – the energy recovery plant is an example of environmental excellence, which benefits, for example, from an efficient flue gas treatment system guaranteeing discharge levels below the most stringent European standards. Dioxins and dust will be 40% below the European threshold. The studies conducted by the local observatory for air-quality monitoring (ATMO) have revealed that the facility’s emissions will have no impact on the environment.
As a major industrial contributor to the region, the site is also committed to creating an educational pathway in order to boost residents’ awareness of the importance of sorting, recycling and waste recovery. A series of innovative, entertaining and hands-on workshops will help teach the local population the reflexes required to reduce their waste production and their environmental footprint.
At the same time, several measures will be implemented in association with Reims Champagne-Ardenne University aimed at encouraging local biodiversity. These will include the creation of a planted discharge area irrigated with storm water where fauna and flora will make the site additionally attractive. A partnership has also been established with the LPO (French ornithological society) to install a nesting ledge for the Peregrine falcon on the energy recovery plant’s flue gas stack.
