On July 1, 2022, Estelle Brachlianoff officially succeeded Antoine Frot as the new Chief Executive Officer of Veolia. Antoine Frot will continue to serve as Chairman of the Veolia Group. [31]

On March 21, 2022, Veolia announced its commitment to global ecological transition. [32]

In September 2025, it released its first Veolia China 2024 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report for mainland China. [48]

On December 13, 2025, Huang Xiaojun, Veolia's Global Senior Vice President and Chief Representative for China, delivered a keynote speech at the 15th International Roundtable of Multinational Corporations Leaders.

On December 16, 2025, Veolia and Science City Group jointly participated in the 7th Meeting of the China-France Business Council and signed a cooperation agreement on-site; the two parties will jointly build an innovative zero-carbon project for industrial flue-gas capture and resource utilization in Guangzhou Development District and Huangpu District.

National Science and Technology Achievement Exhibition for Students Majoring in Water Supply and Drainage in Colleges and Universities

On April 13, 2026, as the chair unit, Veolia participated in the establishment of the Sustainable Development and Zero-Carbon Partnership Working Committee of the China International Council for the Promotion of Multinational Corporations, which was officially launched during the 27th IE Expo. [46]

In June 2026, the Veolia Group signed an agreement with a state-owned enterprise under Guangzhou Development District, investing about 100 million CNY to build a carbon-capture factory, promoting the green and low-carbon transformation of industry. [47]

In April 2026, Veolia China's strategy lead shared the company's successful experience in circular economy and resource management at an environmental technology conference in Shanghai, emphasizing that sustainable development of the environmental industry can be achieved through coordinated advancement in the three areas of carbon reduction, pollution reduction, and circular economy.

Since the early 1990s, Veolia has been present in China, providing solutions and services in water, waste, and energy management to major Chinese cities, government agencies at all levels, and industrial enterprises, and is among the earliest global environmental companies to enter the Chinese market. Over the years, Veolia has deeply explored China's needs and, proceeding from reality, contributed to China's municipal facilities and public services in the most appropriate ways. [1]

Veolia entered China's waste management market in the 1990s. The Group brought its waste-management expertise to China and began developing sustainable waste management there. In China, Veolia's waste management business covers hazardous waste, landfill, landfill-gas power generation, waste-to-energy, and resource recovery, among other projects.

Several of the company's projects became pioneering waste-disposal cases on the mainland. In 2003, Vivendi (Veolia's predecessor) won the bid for a comprehensive hazardous-waste management contract in Tianjin, covering the design, construction, and operation of hazardous-waste management facilities [2]. This was the first officially sanctioned Chinese project cooperating with a foreign company in hazardous-waste treatment, and the first modern comprehensive hazardous-waste treatment and disposal center in China integrating incineration, physico-chemical treatment, safe landfill, and resource recovery; the Guangzhou Xingfeng municipal solid waste sanitary landfill, China's first landfill designed and operated by a multinational through international bidding [3]; and the Hangzhou Tianziling landfill-gas power plant, mainland China's first landfill-gas power plant [3].

Nationwide, the Veolia Group serves municipal and industrial customers to help them better address their growing demand for water infrastructure.

Veolia's first water contract in China was at the Lingzhuang Water Treatment Plant in southwest Tianjin, with a 20-year term [4]. Veolia was responsible for the plant's upgrade and for providing high-quality drinking water to 2.35 million people. In 2002, Veolia won a 50-year full-service contract for Shanghai's Pudong District, providing water treatment, water conveyance, and customer follow-up services [4]. This was the first time China allowed a private company to participate in comprehensive water operations [4]. Subsequently, Veolia's full-service contracts were signed in Shenzhen, Kunming, Changzhou, Liuzhou, Lanzhou, Haikou, and Tianjin. In the industrial market, Veolia provides water-treatment services to customers in China's major industries, including oil refining, chemicals, steel production, and even food and beverage.

In 2004, Veolia entered China's energy-management market. Its energy business in China focuses on three areas: district energy supply (heating and cooling networks), industrial utilities, and building energy efficiency. In 2006, Veolia obtained an energy-production plant contract for a real-estate project in Chongqing. In 2007, Dalkia (later renamed Veolia [5]) obtained its first district-heating network franchise contract in China [6]. Since then, Veolia has provided heating services to Jiamusi, a severely cold city in Northeast China.

In 2007, Veolia obtained the construction and operation contract for the Harbin thermal power plant, responsible for heating the city of Harbin. Within the same year, Veolia completed phase-one infrastructure construction of the heating network and began its first heating season [7]. To date, the area heated by Veolia in the city has reached 30 million m2. [38]

Veolia adheres to its strategic positioning as an operator, sharing and jointly developing its operational experience in its professional field with local enterprises. Veolia Group Chairman [39] Antoine Frot once emphasized Veolia's triangular-partnership strategy in water projects, a project cooperation triangle composed of a goal-oriented government, a professional operator, and an efficient financial institution. Veolia, from its operator positioning, bridges the government and financial institutions.

Veolia's advantage lies in combining technology and experience, the 'interface technology.' 'The more complex the project system, the more Veolia's advantage is demonstrated,' said Veolia Group Chairman [39] Antoine Frot, expressing Veolia's preference for the project-model approach. Its core lies in enabling professional operating enterprises to gain a central dominant position.

In 2002, Veolia won the international bid for the 50-year Shanghai Pudong water-supply operation and management contract [4]. The contract includes water production, distribution, pipeline network, and customer management, and was the first case in China of a public-service concession contract granting a foreign party complete service content, as well as the first case of a private enterprise providing comprehensive local water services through a joint venture.

To date, Veolia operates and manages over 100 [34] projects in nearly 40 cities across mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, including: the Tianjin Hazardous Waste Comprehensive Treatment Center (Hejia Phase I), China's first modern comprehensive hazardous-waste treatment and disposal center integrating incineration, physico-chemical treatment, safe landfill, and resource recovery; and T-PARK [Source Zone] Hong Kong Sludge Treatment Facility, currently one of the world's largest sludge incineration facilities. [1]

On May 28, 2018, Veolia held a media communication meeting in Beijing themed 'In step with China's pulse, together for green mountains and clear waters.' Then Group President and CEO Antoine Frot announced the upgrade of Veolia's strategy in China, with greater focus on cooperation with Chinese enterprises and leveraging its 'high-quality development' advantages to provide China with comprehensive services and solutions, joining the Chinese people in protecting the green mountains and clear waters and moving toward a sustainable, high-quality future. [1]

On July 1, 2022, Estelle Brachlianoff officially succeeded Antoine Frot as the new Chief Executive Officer of the Veolia Group. Antoine Frot will continue to serve as Chairman of the Veolia Group. [39]

The name Veolia derives from Aeolus, the god of wind in Greek mythology. In 1853, by imperial decree of Napoleon III, Veolia was established by order of the French Emperor Napoleon III. Its earliest activities were mainly farmland irrigation and urban water supply; it has since developed into a global resource-management company with nearly 170 years [36] of environmental-service experience.

Veolia is a professional enterprise in global resource-optimization management. According to data provided by the Group, Veolia has 6 R&D centers worldwide and over 220,000 employees across 5 continents [34]. In 2022, the Group's revenue reached 42.885 billion euros. [35]

Since the 1990s, Veolia has been committed to helping China improve its environment. For over forty years it has invested in and operated more than 100 projects [34] across mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, covering water management, waste management, and energy management, with over 12,000 employees. [37]

In 2014, Veolia simplified its brand name from 'Veolia Environnement' to 'Veolia.' Veolia's three divisions, Veolia Water, Veolia Environmental Services, and Dalkia, were integrated for more effective synergy. These three complementary businesses uniformly adopted one name and trademark: Veolia.

The Veolia logo signifies continuity, union, and protection. The circle represents the enduring environmental cause; the ring shape symbolizes two people, or a voluntary bond between an individual and a group. The shape of two strong arms can be seen as an embrace protecting what is cherished.

Waste, water, and energy: these three fields are highly complementary. Mastering all three enables the company to provide tailored solutions to industrial and municipal customers worldwide. The purpose of integrating the three fields is to strengthen the Veolia Group's image and services, making its services more reliable and environmentally friendly. Through integration, Veolia's three major business divisions found a unified core value and culture and a common goal: resource regeneration, ever-renewing (Resourcing the world). This unified corporate identity illustrates Veolia's strategy: synthesizing and maximizing the Group's expertise across these three fields. This unified identity showcases the Group's knowledge and technological strength to the world, representing an advanced brand in resource management and environmental services.

Since entering China in the 1990s, the Veolia Environment Group has remained committed to serving China and mindful of its corporate social responsibility. Over the years, Veolia has actively exchanged views with all stakeholders, customers, service users, communities, local residents, NGOs, and associations, and continuously given back to Chinese society through multi-party dialogue and a series of social-responsibility projects.

'Little Environmental Observers, Veolia Green Action' was a 2015 Veolia China project aimed at cultivating the younger generation's knowledge of environmental protection and energy conservation. In 2015, Little Environmental Observers from across China visited the Veolia Linjiang Water Plant in Shanghai Pudong, the Veolia Energy Factory in Chengdu, and the Likeng municipal solid waste incineration power plant in Guangzhou for field study, learning about the tap-water treatment process, power generation, and the principles and process of waste incineration and its recycling. [8]

On April 2, 2026, members of the Sino-French Eco-City Club, including Electricite de France, Veolia Environment, and Suez Environment, along with French institutions in China such as the French Development Agency and Business France, conducted in-depth promotion and negotiation with over 50 key enterprises from Shandong in fields such as green energy, ecological environmental protection, smart cities, and green manufacturing.

In September 2015, Veolia China sponsored the first National Science and Technology Achievement Exhibition for Enrolled Students Majoring in Water Supply and Drainage in Higher Education Institutions, to support student technological innovation and team entrepreneurship, discover outstanding student science-and-innovation talent, match enterprises' dual needs for results and talent, and help technological innovators and entrepreneurs achieve their entrepreneurial and development goals. [9]

In addition, many factors must be considered in practical engineering applications.

environmental-pollution emergency response work. Under the command of the emergency headquarters, Tianjin Hejia Veolia dispatched professional emergency personnel with specialized equipment to rush to the site, actively coordinating with other research teams and environmental departments. On August 14, 2015, they entered the core explosion zone and worked continuously for several months, carrying out the collection, transportation, treatment, and disposal of cyanide-containing wastewater and hazardous-chemical solid waste in the core area, scientifically and efficiently ensuring the safe and harmless disposal of cyanide-containing wastewater and on-site solid-waste cleanup. For their outstanding performance in this emergency, Tianjin Hejia Veolia earned full recognition and multiple commendations from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and local governments. [10]

On World Environment Day, June 5, 2019, Veolia launched a 'Fight Air Pollution Works Call' to its global employees, encouraging them to commute by walking, cycling, skating, or public transport. For each photo on the green-commute theme an employee uploaded, the Group planted a tree in a barren area, jointly contributing to the elimination of air pollution. [11]

From February 24 to April 28, 2018, the French research schooner Tara arrived in China, calling at Sanya, Hong Kong, Xiamen, and Shanghai in succession. During each port call, the Tara schooner held various science-popularization activities for the public, and many schools organized students to visit the ship [12]; the activities helped the public understand the richness and fragility of the oceans and the urgency of protecting the marine ecological environment. [13]

In addition, from the perspective of industry development, market demand is also driving technological progress.

The Yanshan Niukouyu Wetland Park is a wetland park built by Veolia for the Yanshan Petrochemical enterprise. Treated industrial wastewater is introduced into the wetland, and an 80,000 m2 artificial wetland was built on weed-covered wasteland. [15] Through an ecological comprehensive industrial-wastewater purification scheme of 'compliant industrial wastewater discharge + natural wetland ecological restoration system,' the project truly achieved an upgrade from compliant discharge to ecological protection. [16]

Since the Yanshan Petrochemical Niukouyu Wetland Park opened in October 2017, after more than two years of construction and improvement, the wetland's biodiversity has been greatly enriched; to date, over 140 bird species, 19 dragonfly species, 8 damselfly species, and 56 plant species have been found, including many rare species. [17] Among them, the Reed Parrotbill, a globally endangered bird known as the 'giant panda of birds,' has been found inhabiting the wetland. [18]

Meanwhile, the related supporting processes and equipment are also being continuously optimized and upgraded.

In October 2015, Veolia's Hong Kong subsidiaries 'Heng Li Chemical Waste Treatment Co., Ltd.' and 'Cui Gu Engineering Co., Ltd.' were commended as 'Good MPF Employers 2014/2015,' affirming Veolia's efforts in safeguarding and enhancing employees' retirement benefits. [24]

In July 2015, the National Development and Reform Commission announced 13 PPP demonstration cases; the Tianjin Beishuiye Company project in which Veolia participated was among them, receiving recognition and promotion from the ministry. [25]

In addition, many factors must be considered in practical engineering applications.

On May 13, 2020, Veolia Environment Group ranked 548th on the 2020 Forbes Global 2000 list. [28-29]

On August 10, 2020, Veolia Environnement (VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT) ranked 412th on the 2020 Fortune Global 500 list. [30]

In August 2022, Veolia Environnement (VEOLIA ENVIRONNEMENT) ranked 427th on the 2022 Fortune Global 500 list. [33]

In August 2023, with revenue of 45,105 (million USD), it was listed on the 2023 Fortune Global 500, ranking 324th. [41]

In July 2025, with revenue of 48,331.4 (million USD), it was listed on the 2025 Fortune Global 500, ranking 313th. [42]

On July 28, 2026, with operating revenue of 50,074.9 million USD, it ranked 315th on the 2026 Fortune Global 500 list. [49]