INTEGRATED REPORT 2020 — 2021
THE BENCHMARK COMPANY
FOR THE
ECOLOGICAL
TRANSFORMATION

This is Veolia’s fourth integrated report. 
It provides a full and forward-looking 
overview of the Group’s strategy, 
businesses and commitments.
Coming at the end of the first year
of the Impact 2023 strategic program, 
the report demonstrates how Veolia 
is implementing its purpose 
and creating lasting value for all 
its stakeholders.
The report was put together jointly 
by all the Group’s various departments 
meeting in workshops that provided 
an opportunity to think together 
about the document’s basic sections: 
in particular, the management 
of Covid-19 and its consequences, 
the rollout of the multifaceted 
approach to performance, 
and risk management.
BEING THE BENCHMARK COMPANY 
FOR THE ECOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION 
MEANS…
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
… BEING USEFUL TO BE PROSPEROUS 
AND NOT THE REVERSE
— The purpose, our compass – Multifaceted performance, 
a steering tool – A shared progress approach deployed across 
the organization – A business model that creates value for all
page 6
… HAVING GREATER IMPACT 
THROUGH OUR ACTIONS
— Impact 2023, strategic choices confirmed on the field 
— Innovation for greater impact — Digital transformation for 
greater impact — Greater impact by creating, with Suez, 
a global champion of the ecological transformation
page 16
… BEING A TRUSTWORTHY 
PARTNER
— Mobilized and united in response to the Covid-19 crisis 
— From managing risks to identifying new opportunities 
— Health and safety, continuous improvement 
— Ethics and compliance: no trust, no performance
page 28
… CREATING VALUE 
FOR ALL OUR STAKEHOLDERS
— Creating value for the planet, for society, for employees, 
for customers, for shareholders — Listening more to improve 
dialogue with stakeholders
page 38
… MANAGING BASED 
ON OUR COMMITMENTS
— Agile and engaged governance 
— Committing to multifaceted performance
page 52
CHAPTER 2
1
Veolia Integrated Report 2020 — 2021

WITH ANTOINE
 FRÉROT
 
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer 
 
of Veolia
INTERVIEW
What are your takeaways 
from 2020, the first year of Veolia’s
new strategic plan?
A.F.: What stands out most clearly 
from this turbulent year disrupted by 
the coronavirus pandemic and
the accompanying economic crisis, 
is our company’s excellent resilience, 
responsiveness and ability to bounce back. 
These exceptional circumstances were 
matched by our company’s equally 
exceptional reaction. This is reflected 
in the annual financial statements. 
At €26 billion, our revenue remained 
at a high level, with a return to growth 
in the fourth quarter. Our EBITDA came 
to €3.6 billion, exceeding the revised 
target we had set at the start of 
the pandemic, and at €415 million, 
the current net income Group share 
remained largely positive despite 
the extent of the recession that most 
countries in the world experienced. 
The measures taken at the start of 
the crisis enabled our Group to overcome 
the consequences of the crisis and trend 
positively again in less than nine months. 
Our performance in the third and 
fourth quarters of 2020 exceeded our 
2019 performance for the same periods.
How do you explain the fact that Veolia
managed to pull through the economic
and health crisis so successfully?
A.F.: First, the nature of our businesses, 
as they provide everyday life essentials, 
whether for urban areas or businesses: 
during a crisis or in normal times, 
those customers still need water and 
heating, and waste and wastewater must 
be collected and treated.
Second, our company’s responsiveness 
in extreme events, its inventiveness 
in solving completely unprecedented 
problems, and its boldness in countering 
the uncertainty created by the crisis. 
Three guiding principles helped us through 
this situation: ensure service continuity, 
protect our employees and mitigate 
the impact of the recession on our 
results insofar as possible. For example, 
as a result of the Recover & Adapt 
additional savings plan we rolled out, 
our Group ultimately saved €550 million 
in costs compared with the €250 million 
initially expected. I would add a third, 
more fundamental reason that underpins 
all the rest: our employees’ exceptional 
engagement. They did their utmost 
to continue providing our services 
during this difficult period, despite 
the organizational disruption here and 
there due to the crisis. They are keenly 
aware of their tasks and were focused 
squarely on fulfilling them, which 
they successfully did.
Despite the crisis, was your Group 
able to maintain its sales & marketing
dynamic?
A.F.: Yes, 2020 saw numerous successes 
helping pave the way for the future. 
Our sales & marketing effort was vigorously 
maintained with a focus on new businesses 
which will provide new areas of growth 
for our company in the near future. 
A number of the contracts we won in 2020 
clearly reflect our strategy, including 
the acquisition of the right bank district 
heating network in Prague, in the Czech 
Republic; the creation in Japan of a joint 
venture with Mitsui and 7-Eleven to build 
a new PET plastic recycling plant; 
the acquisition of Osis in France, which 
specializes in maintaining wastewater 
networks and facilities; the technological 
partnership with Solvay to develop a circular 
economy for electric vehicle batteries, 
a rapidly growing business given that the 
fleet of electric vehicles will rise from today’s 
eight million to more than 110 million 
by 2030; the agreement with General 
Electric for recycling onshore wind turbine 
blades; and the contract to treat process 
water at the Pfizer medication plant 
in Freiburg, Germany.
What is the status today of your 
Impact 2023 strategic plan following 
the coronavirus pandemic?
A.F.: Despite the upheaval caused by 
the pandemic, the ecological challenges 
and their urgency remain. In the long term, 
the context remains particularly favorable 
3
Veolia Integrated Report 2020 — 2021
2

INTERVIEW
 
WITH ANTOINE
 
FRÉROT
to our businesses, so our Impact 2023 
strategic program remains as relevant 
as ever, as does the ambition on which 
it is based: to become the benchmark 
company for the ecological transformation. 
This is all the truer given that the crisis 
has confirmed that we made the right 
decisions. The businesses we decided 
to develop have held up very well during 
the crisis and have been in high demand. 
Moreover, Veolia is ideally placed 
to capitalize on government stimulus 
packages, a large share of which will be 
devoted to the ecological transformation 
in countries that are key to our growth. 
Our Impact 2023 plan will enable our 
company to strengthen its position in 
the most dynamic markets, expand its range 
of technologies and leverage the full 
potential of its expertise. Over the next few 
years, we will continue to implement 
the strategy we have defined, accelerating, 
optimizing or slowing down our businesses, 
depending on their respective potential. 
In terms of asset turnover, we have already 
completed €2 billion worth of transactions, 
which is two-thirds of the target we set 
ourselves for the end of 2023. Despite 
the crisis, we have maintained all 
the investments in 2020 that will fuel our 
future growth: they will be a source of 
revenue and margin in the coming years. 
At the end of 2020, our Group conducted 
an internal survey of more than 
80,000 employees in 55 countries or entities. 
The survey showed that 87% of them feel 
strongly committed to their work, 
an increase of three points compared to 
2019. This record level of engagement, 
compared to many similar companies, 
puts us in an excellent position to 
implement the rest of our Impact 2023 plan.
What is the outlook for Veolia for 2021?
A.F.: In 2021, we will continue to roll out 
our strategy, seeking the maximum impact 
for each of our businesses. On the one hand, 
we will actively deploy our development 
program, based mainly on organic growth. 
As in previous years, we will be very 
selective in the investments we make, 
focusing on the most promising sectors, 
such as building energy efficiency, plastics 
recycling, the circular economy and 
industrial waste treatment. On the other 
hand, we will methodically and rigorously 
apply our cost saving programs.
In financial terms, our objective is to return 
to our pre-crisis performance. For the end 
of 2021, we are aiming for revenue at least 
at the level of 2019, if not higher, and EBITDA 
in excess of €4 billion, with growth of 
at least 10% compared to 2020. In addition, 
our cost savings target is €350 million, 
including €250 million from our recurring 
efficiency program and €100 million from 
our additional Recover & Adapt program.
How can we accelerate the ecological
transformation worldwide?
A.F.: Our Group is using a variety of levers 
to ensure that this essential ecological 
transformation becomes a reality more 
quickly for everyone: permanent innovation, 
identification and rapid dissemination 
of best practices, promising partnerships 
with cities, companies and universities 
that are leaders in their fields. And then, 
of course, there is the merger we have 
undertaken with Suez. This transaction 
gives us the historic opportunity to create 
the world champion of ecological 
transformation. With this industrial project, 
we are providing a major response to 
the environmental challenge of this century. 
“What stands out most clearly 
from this turbulent year disrupted 
by the coronavirus pandemic 
and the accompanying
economic crisis, is our company’s 
excellent resilience, responsiveness 
and ability to bounce back.”
The unparalleled industrial group 
that we are going to form will give us 
more resources in terms of know-how, 
geographical platforms, and research 
and development, to accelerate 
the ecological transformation that 
the world so badly needs.
By acquiring 29.9% of Suez’s capital 
in October 2020, Veolia has taken 
a decisive step towards bringing these 
two uniquely complementary groups 
together – making it a key global player – 
once the competition authorities 
have given their approval. 
The second stage of this major operation 
was launched on February 8, 2021, 
when our bid to acquire the remaining 
70.1% of Suez’s capital was filed 
with the authorities. This project will 
benefit all our stakeholders and allow 
us to create more value for them 
and maximize the impact we have 
on them.
What impact does Veolia have
on its stakeholders?
A.F.: As its purpose states, our Group seeks, 
through all its actions, to increase 
the impact it has on its stakeholders, 
whether environmental, social, societal 
or financial. A greater impact on the planet, 
by reducing the extraction of natural 
resources and mitigating the pollution 
emitted; a greater impact on our customers, 
by improving their performance 
and reducing their costs; a greater 
impact on our regions, by making them 
attractive and sustainable; a greater 
impact on our employees, by broadening 
their skills and their opportunities 
for professional development; a greater 
impact on our shareholders, by increasing 
the return on investment. 
This impact will be precisely measured 
each year using a suite of 18 indicators 
that we have just introduced and 
which measure our multifaceted performance.
It is intended to become a substantive 
tool for steering our Group. 
We place so much emphasis on impact 
because a company’s success is measured 
not only by what it achieves, but also 
by the impact it has on all its stakeholders. 
Veolia’s impact on all these stakeholders 
who make a similar commitment 
is the tangible proof of its usefulness 
and therefore of its legitimacy. 
Because, in the end, we are 
only legitimate when we are useful.
“A company’s success 
is measured not only
by what it achieves, but 
also by the impact it has on all
its stakeholders.”
5
Veolia Integrated Report 2020 — 2021
4

Being the benchmark company for the ecological transformation means…
BEING
TO BE PROSPEROUS 
AND NOT THE REVERSE
CHAPTER1
7
Veolia Integrated Report 2020 — 2021
6

10,000
LOGONS
TO THE “MY PURPOSE AT VEOLIA” 
EDUCATIONAL PLATFORM
15,000
VIEWS OF THE VIDEO 
EXPLORING THE PURPOSE, 
AVAILABLE IN 28 LANGUAGES
21
“OUR PURPOSE IN MOTION”
WORKSHOPS
HELD AT THE END OF OCTOBER 2020, 
ATTENDED BY MORE THAN 300 SENIOR 
EXECUTIVES
Purpose and Sustainable
Development Goals
The United Nations’ SDGs 
helped frame Veolia’s 
approach in developing its 
purpose. They were used 
to set targets and align 
the purpose with the 2030 
Agenda. The multifaceted 
performance indicators 
were created to help meet 
these challenges. 
In all,  18 progress objectives 
are implemented through 
the Impact 2023 strategic 
plan. The SDGs also 
challenge the company 
on its ability to form new 
collaborations; through that 
collaborative effort and 
by relying on its capacity 
for innovation, Veolia will be 
able to meet the challenges 
imposed by the ecological 
transformation.
Developed collaboratively since the end 
of 2018, the Group’s purpose was the subject 
of an engagement plan developed in 
January 2020 on behalf of Veolia employees, 
who are its primary ambassadors. 
The purpose sits at the heart of Veolia’s 
policy and acts as a compass to direct 
the Group’s strategy. Today, it is steered 
at the highest levels of the company, 
by Veolia’s Board of Directors, the Executive 
Committee and the Management 
Committee. The Critical Friends committee, 
a group of independent experts, is also 
regularly called upon to challenge 
the company and to stay on course 
in fulfilling its purpose.
THE PURPOSE
O U R  C O M P A S S
The Strategy and Innovation Department 
designs and monitors the Group’s strategy 
with a view toward multifaceted 
performance aligned on Veolia’s purpose. 
The Group has also introduced a Purpose 
Steering Committee which coordinates 
Group players and encourages 
the involvement of all employees. 
Finally, many workshops have been held 
since summer 2020 (“Our Purpose in 
Motion, see page 12”), so that managers 
can take full ownership of the purpose and 
incorporate the principles of a balanced, 
multifaceted performance into their projects.
The members of the Group’s Management 
Committee were the first to take part 
in these workshops, which were gradually 
rolled out to all business units in 2020 
and 2021.
 Veolia’s purpose is to contribute to human progress 
by firmly committing to the Sustainable Development 
Goals  set by the UN to achieve a better and more sustainable 
future for all. It is with this aim in mind that Veolia sets itself
the task of “Resourcing the world” through its environmental 
services business.    
At Veolia, we are convinced that continuing human 
development is only possible if economic, social and environmental
issues are addressed as an indivisible whole. This belief 
is embedded in the history of the company, which as soon as
it was created in 1853, showed the way by making access to drinking
water an essential element of public health and quality of life.
In the conduct of our current businesses in water, waste and energy, 
we provide our public and private customers worldwide with solutions 
that facilitate access to essential services and natural resources, 
and that efficiently conserve, use and recycle those natural 
resources. Improvement of our environmental footprint 
and that of our customers is central to our business 
and its economic model.
We are a company that is both local and global with a high level
of technical know-how and labor, and which commits for long periods 
of time. We guarantee long-term results for our customers 
by leveraging our long experience, the quality of our services 
and our high capacity for innovation. We are a working community where,
in addition to an income and respect for their health and safety, 
everyone can find a sense of purpose in what they do, commitment 
to rewarding collective action and personal fulfillment. Through training, 
Veolia ensures that its employees, the vast majority of whom are
manual workers and technicians, develop their skills. 
The company relies  on their responsibility and autonomy at all levels
and in all countries, and promotes professional equality 
between men and women.
Veolia also promotes, particularly on staff representative 
bodies, social dialogue, which encourages employees to adopt
our collective project as their own. Wherever it operates, 
Veolia complies with applicable laws and regulations.  It also
applies widely-distributed ethical rules consistent with its values 
of responsibility, community spirit, respect, innovation and customer focus. 
Veolia’s prosperity is founded upon its usefulness 
to all its stakeholders in the various regions where it operates – 
whether customers, shareholders, employees, suppliers, current 
populations or future generations. Its performance must 
therefore be assessed in various dimensions corresponding to those 
different communities concerned. The company pays the same degree 
of attention and requires the same high standards in each of these 
dimensions. In this way, Veolia prepares for the future, protecting 
the environment and responding to humanity’s vital needs.
9
Veolia Integrated Report 2020 — 2021
8

Our stakeholders
1.
Our performance
2.
Our commitments
3.
Our goals
4.
What link do you make between Veolia’s purpose 
and multifaceted performance?
Olivier Brousse: Above and beyond the ambition itself, we 
needed a tool to implement our purpose effectively. 
Multifaceted performance sets a balanced course between 
five criteria: economic and financial, commercial, environ-
mental, social and human resources. What is new and incred-
ibly powerful is that we have made this goal quantifiable – by 
defining 18 indicators – and public. That’s quite something. 
Few companies in the world have adopted this approach. We 
have chosen our destination and we are making headway, 
not just with commitments and resources, but above all by 
committing to results.
How?
O.B.: For waste, for example, we are a recognized service 
 provider for collection, treatment and recovery. We want to 
become a partner that leverages the circular economy to 
develop innovative solutions 
that are technically viable, 
 ecologically responsible and 
profitable. This means that we 
turn our focus to the earlier 
stages – for example, by helping 
household product and cosmet-
ics manufacturers eco-design 
easily recyclable products and 
packaging. We also take action 
further downstream, to help 
consumers by informing and 
educating them. Would it be 
out of the question to imagine 
that in the future Veolia would 
help them choose their prod-
ucts based on packaging recy-
clability criteria?
MULTIFACETED 
PERFORMANCE
A  S T E E R I N G  T O O L
A powerful driver for recovery and transformation, 
Veolia’s commitment to multifaceted performance aims for a new 
balance between economic, social and environmental demands.
It seems like a complex task. How do you reconcile 
the interests of your various stakeholders?
O.B.: It is indeed complex and that is why the notion of balance 
is key. Take the example of water distribution networks. 
Technically, it is possible to achieve zero water loss, which would 
be environmentally virtuous, but it is economically untenable 
because it would be too costly, especially for users. We’re mind-
ful of that complexity and we’re looking to identify the solu-
tions that provide the best possible balance.
“The notion
of balance 
is key to our  
commitment
to multifaceted 
performance.”
How does this approach specifically address 
the challenges we currently face?
O.B.: Because, in the wake of the health crisis, it ties in with the 
need to reboot the economy and the urgency of the ecological 
transformation. We find ourselves in what I would say is some-
thing akin to the Haussmann period in Paris or Franklin D. 
Roosevelt’s New Deal. In 1853, to tackle the economic and social 
crisis, Napoleon III commissioned Baron Haussmann to clean 
up Paris and make it safer and at the same time create an enor-
mous number of jobs as part of those major projects. He also 
planted the forests in Les Landes in southwestern France. In the 
United States, President Roosevelt’s response to the Great 
Depression was to create national parks and undertake major 
infrastructure works, thereby creating jobs. In both these cases, 
the aim was to find a balance between the economy, employ-
ment and the transformation of society. This is what the world 
needs today to get us out of the current crises. The green jobs 
that we will continue to create to implement the ecological 
transformation are consistent with that strategy.
 
OLIVIER
 BROUSSE
 
Senior Executive Vice President, 
Strategy and Innovation
INTERVIEW 
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resources
Combating 
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Job and 
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Ethics and 
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Access to essential 
services (water 
and sanitation)
Safety 
at work
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commitment
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training and 
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Investment
capacity 
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Circular 
economy: 
plastic 
recycling
Protection of 
environments 
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biodiversity
OUR
MULTIFACETED 
PERFORMANCE 
11
Veolia Integrated Report 2020 — 2021
10

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A SHARED PROGRESS 
APPROACH
D E P L O Y E D  A C R O S S  T H E  O R G A N I Z A T I O N
Multifaceted performance entails far-reaching and concrete change 
in the way Veolia conducts and develops its businesses. 
The Group undertakes to assess its operations not just based on financial 
performance, but also on environmental, commercial, HR and social 
criteria. In 2020, Veolia ramped up its initiatives to ensure the success 
of this cultural shift at every level of its organization.
To express its vision of the company, which involves creating 
and sharing value in an as balanced manner as possible 
among all its stakeholders, Veolia uses its timeless purpose 
as a guide. To make that vision operative, it relies on 
multifaceted performance, for which it has set four-year 
targets in the Impact 2023 strategic plan. The Group has 
committed to five dimensions of performance, with five 
commitments and 18 quantifiable objectives (see page 58). 
Each of these commitments is linked to the fundamentals 
that underpin Veolia’s purpose, which refers to the United 
Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Moreover, each 
dimension of this multifaceted performance benefits not 
just one, but several stakeholders.
Dedicated governance
to ensure alignment
The Group has established a special governance framework 
to ensure all business units (BUs) embrace this strategy 
of performance. A member of the Executive Committee 
sponsors one or several of the multifaceted performance 
objectives.  Group key experts steer the performance at 
the Group level for each objective, set the target, help the 
BUs design their action plans and consolidate the indicators.
Finally, “purpose officers” support the managers in each 
Group entity to speed up the rollout of the multifaceted 
performance approach in the heart of the businesses 
and share best practices and questions within a broad 
community.
Rapid acculturation,
embedded in every process
“Our Purpose in Motion” workshops were held in 2020 
to raise manager awareness. During these workshops, 
employees from all management levels learned about 
the 18 multifaceted performance objectives. They were 
encouraged to think about how Veolia’s purpose can be 
concretely put into action, in the solutions they deploy, their 
contracts and their operational methods, and to talk about 
the impact on their BU. The first to attend these workshops 
were the members of the Group’s Management Committee 
in July 2020.
This approach is gradually irrigating all the company’s 
processes. Multifaceted performance-related objectives 
were taken into account in 2020 when assessing 
the 500 top managers.
The Group’s Internal Control Department is working on 
further integrating the multifaceted performance objectives 
when assessing the company’s risks. The investment 
committees, which examine the Group’s major investment 
projects, now factor the five dimensions of this performance 
into their decisions. Created in 2020, the Veolia’s Innovation 
Committee, when assessing the value of an innovation, 
examines its consistency with the multifaceted 
performance objectives. Future projects will also take 
these criteria into account in the new employee hiring 
process and BU reporting.
OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT 
OF MULTIFACETED PERFORMANCE  
Details about how the management bodies steer the purpose and multifaceted performance are provided on page 9.
•  Ensures that clear targets are 
assigned to each Group entity, 
consistently with the global 
target.
•  Analyzes and tracks action plans, 
and reports on their progress and 
results to the Excom.
• Disseminates best practices.
•  Coordinates the multifaceted 
performance dashboard 
and its audit by a third party.
•  Contribute to setting the targets.
•  Contribute to developing 
and analyzing action plans.
•  Consolidate at global level 
the indicator(s) assigned to them.
•  Support the entity manager, 
enable and accelerate the local 
rollout of the purpose and 
multifaceted performance.
•  Share best practices, any 
difficulties and avenues for 
improvement with the network.
•  Contribute to promoting 
the objective assigned to them 
across all Group geographic zones.
13
Veolia Integrated Report 2020 — 2021
12

BUSINESS 
MODEL
STRENGTHS
A BUSINESS MODEL
T H A T  C R E A T E S  V A L U E  F O R  A L L
VALUE 
CREATED
IN 2020
Veolia participates to a varied extent in the implementation 
of all 17 SDGs. In particular, the Group plays a major role in 
13 SDGs, where the challenges directly cut across its Purpose.
Economic and financial
  Revenue of €26.0 billion, down 2.9% (at constant exchange rates)
  Current net income attributable to the owners of the Company: 
€415 million
  Post-tax ROCE: 6.4%
  Free cash flow before discretionary investment: €942 million
•  €3,641 million EBITDA
•  Dividend of €0.50(1) per share
•  5-year TSR: +11.09%
Employees
  87% employee commitment rate, 
measured by an independent survey
  6.6 lost time injury frequency rate
  17 hours of training per employee on average
  28.3% of women appointed in 2020 
among the Group’s Top 500 executives
•  28.2% of women managers
•   1,369 collective agreements signed in 2020 
in terms of labor relations
Society
  6.1 million people benefiting from inclusive solutions 
to access water or sanitation services under Veolia contracts
  1,105,388 jobs supported and €51 billion of wealth created 
(contribution to GDP) worldwide
  95% of positive answers to the commitment survey question: 
“Are Veolia’s values and ethics applied in my entity” (Top 5,000)
•  87.3% of spending reinvested locally
•  76% of active contracts in the supplier contract base include 
the Group CSR clause
Commercial
  Revenue of €2.5 billion in the “Liquid and hazardous waste 
processing and recovery” segment
  2 innovations included in at least 10 contracts signed 
by the Group
  Customer satisfaction rate calculated using the Net Promoter 
Score methodology = 41 with 57% of covered revenue
  Multifaceted performance indicators
Environmental
  8.1% progress with the investment plan to eliminate 
coal in Europe by 2030
  12.8 Mt CO2 eq.: annual contribution to avoided 
GHG emissions
  391 kt of plastic recycled in Veolia transformation plants
  1.6% progress with action plans aimed at improving the impact 
on the natural environment and biodiversity at sensitive sites
  73.4% drinking water network efficiency
•  Revenue of €5.2 billion in the circular economy
• 56% methane capture rate
FOR OUR
STAKEHOLDERS
(1) Excluding the impact of  Suez share block acquisition. 
(1) For the financial year 2019. 
Global expertise 
serving 
all our customers
•  Nearly 8,000 sites across the five continents
•  Regional player managing local services
•  21 centers of excellence for the global rollout 
of best practices
High value-added 
know-how
•  Integrated approach to environmental issues
•  Expertise in managing the most complex issues, 
such as toxic pollution
Committed men 
and women
•  178,894 employees
•  A network of international campuses
•  85% of employees proud to work 
for Veolia
Extensive market
presence combined
with financial
strength
•  Balanced portfolio between municipal (52%) 
and industrial (48%) customers
•  Solid European base with one-third of business 
in the rest of the world and a strong presence 
in dynamic markets (notably Asia, North America, 
Latin America)
•  Financial strength: net debt/EBITDA ratio of 3.2(1)
A climate strategy 
consistent with 
the Paris Agreement
•  Strategy validated by the SBT 
(Science Based Targets) initiative
Adapted 
governance
•  Diverse expertise within the Board of Directors
•  Committee of external experts, 
the “Critical Friends,” consulted on 
the Group’s strategic direction
•  Multi-criteria compensation system (including 
CSR criteria) for the Executive Committee, 
with annual and long-term components
Changing society and 
environmental challenges
Climate change and ecological transition
Demographic growth and urbanization
Health challenges
Technological progress / Digitalization
Stricter environmental regulations
Societal expectations
Our mission
RESOURCING THE WORLD
Improving access to resources
Preserving resources
Replenishing resources
Our strategic ambition
BE THE BENCHMARK
COMPANY FOR ECOLOGICAL
TRANSFORMATION
Our businesses
WATER, WASTE and ENERGY management
with a circular economy approach
Our customers
Municipal
customers
Industrial
customers
SHAREHOLDERS
SOCIETY
EMPLOYEES 
PLANET
CUSTOMERS
15
Veolia Integrated Report 2020 — 2021
14

CHAPTER2
Being the benchmark company for the ecological transformation means…
HAVING
THROUGH OUR ACTIONS
17
Veolia Integrated Report 2020 — 2021
16

IMPACT 2023
S T R A T E G I C  C H O I C E S  C O N F I R M E D
O N  T H E  F I E L D
Speeding up certain activities, reinventing the historical businesses 
and imagining innovative solutions to generate maximum positive 
impact and ensure the success of ecological transformation: the Group 
implements its strategic choices locally and in the heart of its businesses.
The first year of the Impact 2023 strategic plan was 
also the year of the pandemic. Did this prevent you 
from progressing as fast as you expected on 
the ground?
Pierre Ribaute: Even if the first year was affected by a crisis 
of unprecedented duration and scope, we maintained the 
direction driven by Impact 2023. We can see that the workforce 
is paying attention in the way they’ve embraced the purpose 
and multifaceted performance. The health crisis actually 
reminded us to what extent our 
basic businesses are essential. 
We ensured the continuity of our 
services while still positioning 
ourselves to provide new ones, 
but above all by committing to 
delivering results.
As a business support team, what were your priorities 
in 2020?
P.R.: Having an impact above all means focusing your energy on 
the priority issues. In 2020, together with our business units, we 
worked on focusing on our key assets in all our businesses and 
geographic zones. This means contracts and sites that account 
for around 10% of the total number of assets and a quarter of our 
revenue. The goal with these assets was to ensure everyone 
made progress in a coordinated manner overall – so as to have 
the greatest impact – in order to identify the drivers for improving 
our performance in various areas: digital, health and safety, 
energy consumption, maintenance, etc., all the while factoring in 
the contractual context specific to each asset.
“Having an impact  
above all means 
focusing your energy  
on the priority issues.”
Alternatives to coal
In 2019, Veolia committed 
to converting its coal-fired 
activities in Europe by 
replacing coal by 2030 with 
other sources of energy that 
are cleaner and in most cases 
renewable: natural gas, 
biomass, RDF (refuse-
derived fuel), etc. Despite 
the health crisis, teams are 
working on identifying and 
recovering sources of waste 
heat at the sites we operate. 
For example, the waste heat 
generated at the Volkswagen 
plant in Poznań, Poland, 
is fed into the city’s district 
heating network.
STRATEGIC MOVE  
2
STRATEGIC MOVE 
3
STRATEGIC MOVE 
4
Step up the pace of growth
of our most complex
operations, where Veolia’s
expertise represents
significant added value
•  Hazardous waste treatment 
and recovery
•  Soil remediation
•  Energy efficiency
•  Plastics recycling
•  Biowaste recovery 
•  Wastewater reuse 
•  Seawater desalination
Reinforce and reinvent
our core business activities
to enhance their impact
and performance
•  Water: expand offerings with 
innovative and inclusive solutions
•  Waste: transform collection, 
particularly with new digital services 
•  Energy: modernize and diversify 
business (green energy, heating and 
cooling minigrids, etc.)
Imagine and develop 
innovative solutions to
anticipate and satisfy 
the essential needs 
of tomorrow
•  Reduce the effects of climate change
• Conserve natural resources
•  Develop and expand environmentally 
friendly farming practices
•  Reduce the health impact of new forms 
of pollution
• Provide access to carbon-free energy 
•  Optimize the management of natural 
resources using digital technology 
and artificial intelligence
STRATEGIC MOVE 
1
Impact 2023 also aims to speed up change. 
Isn’t there a risk in moving faster?
P.R.: Let’s just say that there are certain issues 
involved in accelerating our businesses that, 
clearly, we need to anticipate. For example, we 
need to double our business in hazardous 
waste over the coming three years by opening 
new sites and making acquisitions. Of course, 
this vigorous growth is not risk-free, which is 
why we have strengthened our industrial risk 
management policy for the hazardous waste 
business by engaging our community of 
 professionals to address this issue. 
What about solutions for the future?
P.R.: Here again, our objective is to make sure that, as a 
“business” complement to the Strategy and Innovation 
Department for each activity, our teams are effectively working 
on topics that will have an impact. The role of those on the field 
is central to that. We’re enhancing our knowledge on promising 
subjects (for example, recycling organic waste to produce 
 animal proteins) and estimate their potential for large-scale 
growth through the return on experience of our business units. 
In 2020, we also reviewed our Research & Innovation program 
to focus our resources on technological solutions which will be 
ready for rollout by 2023. We will update this prioritization 
work in 2021 based on business and operational factors.
Commit to multifaceted performance 
4 STRATEGIC MOVES FOR 
THE ECOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION 
 
PIERRE
 RIBAUTE
 
Director of Business Support and Performance(1)
INTERVIEW 
(1)  Effective from June 1, 2021, Pierre Ribaute 
is appointed CEO of the France Water activity.
19
Veolia Integrated Report 2020 — 2021
18

BOOSTING 
OUR CLIENTS’ 
PERFORMANCE 
FOR GREATER 
IMPACT
In 2020, Veolia won some 
excellent contracts worldwide, 
despite the pandemic. 
The Group applies its expertise 
to help industrial and 
municipal clients boost their 
performance and reduce their 
environmental footprint. 
IVORY COAST
Greater Bouaké, the second 
largest city in Ivory Coast, 
has a population of more 
than 1.5 million. 
Veolia and the PFO group 
were contracted to build 
a drinking water treatment 
plant to meet the growing 
demand for water and help 
secure a source of supply 
for the long term. In 2018, 
the city experienced a major 
crisis due to a drought 
that caused Loka reservoir 
– its main source of supply – 
to completely dry out.
FINLAND
In May 2020, a long-term 
partnership began between 
Veolia Nordic and BASF 
with the signing of a contract 
for Veolia to design, 
build and finance a steam, 
water and compressed 
air plant to supply BASF’s 
future lithium-ion battery 
production plant at 
the Harjavalta site in Finland. 
This plant will recover energy 
from other plants 
at the Harjavalta industrial 
park to reduce 
the environmental footprint.
FRANCE
Since April 1, 2020, Veolia has been providing 
maintenance for air conditioning units, cooling systems, 
boilers and burners; building and infrastructure maintenance; 
energy and fluid production; water and effluent treatment 
and management of low current at PSA’s site in Caen. 
This new contract, successfully started during lockdown, 
further strengthens Veolia’s strategic partnership with 
the PSA group dating back more than fifteen years.
ITALY
Veolia signed a contract 
with the city of Tarente 
to supply energy services 
for the maintenance 
of electrical and thermal 
facilities; the maintenance 
of HVAC, electricity, water 
and fire systems; the upgrade 
of technical facilities 
and energy efficiency 
improvements in 67 schools. 
This will avoid releasing 
4,933 metric tons of CO2 
a year, which equates 
to the annual absorption 
capacity of 822 hectares 
(2,030 acres) of forest.
SOUTH KOREA
During the Covid-19 
pandemic, South Korea 
renewed two significant 
petrochemicals industry 
contracts. The first, signed 
for twenty years, is for water 
treatment and the production 
of cooling tower water, 
demineralized water and 
drinking water at a SEETEC 
site; the second contract 
was signed with 
Kumho Petrochemical 
for fifteen years.
UNITED STATES
When wind turbine blades find 
a second life in cement manufacturing: 
GE Renewable Energy signed an agreement 
with Veolia in December 2020, the first 
of its kind in the wind power industry 
in the United States. The agreement covers 
the recycling of onshore wind turbine blades, 
which are primarily made of fiberglass. 
The blades will be shredded in a Veolia plant 
in Missouri and treated using a co-treatment 
solution that has already proven effective 
in Europe. The benefit: a 27% reduction 
in CO2 emissions.
GERMANY
Pfizer contracted with Veolia to treat 
the rinse water for the drugs produced 
at its Freiburg site in Germany. 
The contract will eliminate the transport 
of more than 3,000 m3 of wastewater 
a year, which will reduce the carbon footprint 
of Pfizer’s business by 460 metric tons 
of CO2 equivalent a year. 
CZECH 
REPUBLIC
Already the operator of 
the district heating network 
for Prague’s left bank, 
Veolia increased its presence 
in the Czech capital 
to include the right bank 
when it acquired 
Pražská Teplárenská (PT). 
This transaction will 
eventually add an estimated 
annual revenue 
of €230 million.
21
Veolia Integrated Report 2020 — 2021
20

How does Veolia support the ecological 
transformation with innovation?
Claire Falzone: First, by being focused on the issues with 
planetary impact. This means designing our strategy and 
 prioritizing topics in order to speed up the process where 
 useful or necessary. We used this approach in 2020 when 
addressing the question of “What is environmental innovation 
at Veolia?” We reviewed our pipeline of projects and resources 
to reallocate them into six main innovation topics (see page 22). 
For 2021, our three priority topics  correspond to the most 
urgent needs expressed by our clients: air quality, carbon 
 capture and bioconversion.
What are the sources of innovation?
C.F.: There are many. We work in partnership with the  academic 
and industrial worlds, and with a start-up ecosystem. Clients, 
too, spur our innovation when they come to us to find solutions 
to their problems: in France, for example, Waste Solutions 
works actively on eco-design topics.
In 2020, Veolia created an Innovation Committee. 
What is its role?
C.F.: Chaired by Antoine Frérot, the committee clearly demon-
strates the strategic importance given to these topics. Every 
two months, it examines innovation projects through a dif-
ferent lens to that of conventional investment projects in 
terms of risk and return on investment. Decisions are guided 
by two criteria: the projects must be profitable in order to be 
deployed at a certain scale, and they must have a visible 
 planetwide impact.
Half the solutions needed for the ecological transformation 
still need to be invented.
To speed up their discovery, Veolia has opted to focus 
its efforts on six main areas:
•  reduce the effects of climate change (increasing water 
scarcity, floods, droughts, heat waves, etc.);
•   conserve natural resources (water, metals, gases, 
minerals, coal, plant life);
•  develop and expand environmentally friendly farming 
practices (responsible irrigation, urban farming, 
waste traceability and composting, fertilizer production 
from waste);
•  reduce the health impact of new forms of pollution 
(indoor air, micropollutants in drinking water, etc.);
•  provide access to carbon-free energy;
•  optimize the management of natural resources using 
digital technology and artificial intelligence.
INNOVATION
F O R  G R E A T E R  I M P A C T
How can we treat or recycle waste for which there is no solution yet? 
How can we improve resource conservation, the state 
of the planet and its inhabitants? How can we move faster toward 
a decarbonized world?… Veolia is stepping up and focusing 
its innovation on tackling these unresolved challenges.
Digital technology for motivated citizens
Initiatives were undertaken in 2020 in all these areas. 
In France, Veolia (with the start-up Publidata) introduced 
a new service for local governments to improve how 
they reach out to their public about waste sorting and 
management – especially during lockdowns. When added 
to any web page or mobile app, the Waste Information 
Widget allows residents to view the entire list of services 
provided by their local government: door-to-door collection, 
appointments to collect oversize items, waste drop-off 
center opening hours, sorting rules, etc., based on their 
address. This useful tool eliminates the need to sift through 
complex information about collection rounds and districts.
Innovating to anticipate challenges
In India, the Group has signed a joint venture agreement 
with Carbon Clean, a leading company in the field of carbon 
capture and separation technologies. The partners will 
work on two projects: carbon storage and compressed 
biogas. In China, Veolia’s teams introduced an online reverse 
auction platform for tender processes that uses blockchain 
technology. At the height of the health crisis, all calls for 
tender were published online using this innovation, 
thereby avoiding the risk of any interruption to transactions.
Breakthrough,
usefulness
and R&D :
the main markers 
of innovation
What is the general public’s 
perception of innovation 
in France? Veolia turned 
to Elabe to conduct a study(1) 
that provides a definition: 
91% of the respondents 
believe that innovation 
is “a product or service that 
creates new uses,” 88% 
think that it “is useful and 
serves some purpose,” 
and 87% that it “requires 
a lot of research and 
development time.” 
Another takeaway from 
the study is that half of all 
French people see Veolia 
as a company capable 
of developing and providing 
innovative solutions to 
tackle the challenges posed 
by resources, pollution 
and climate change.
(1) Study conducted in November 
2020 on a representative sample 
of 1,002 people.
“Creating 
a positive impact  
means targeting  
our efforts.”
 
CLAIRE
 FALZONE
 
Head of Business Innovation
INTERVIEW 
€300 M
EARMARKED FOR INNOVATION
IN THE IMPACT 2023 PLAN
23
Veolia Integrated Report 2020 — 2021
22

An opportunity for employees
Some 80% of Veolia’s employees work in the field. 
So the issue for managers is to get the most out of digital 
tools to maintain employee cohesion and ensure the 
adoption of Veolia’s culture. More than half of Veolia UK’s 
employees – around 9,000 people – did not have an email 
address and had only limited access to information. 
Introduced in 2019, the internal V-Source app allows them 
to check their pay slips, Group news and benefits. 
We are progressively rolling out digital identity to enable 
our employees to access even more of the company’s digital 
ecosystem. In France, Portugal and Latin America, new, 
more collaborative, more agile and more digital working 
habits, such as online seminars, introduced during 
the Covid-19 pandemic are still in place today.
An opportunity for operations
For Veolia’s business units and subsidiaries, the digital 
transformation is an opportunity to maximize operational 
performance. Birdz, a Veolia subsidiary and leader in 
Internet-of-Things solutions, merged with FluksAqua in 2020. 
The aim is to speed up the switch between applications 
and recover data to provide clients with a more integrated 
offering of services with higher added value. The Hubgrade 
DIGITAL 
TRANSFORMATION
F O R  G R E A T E R  I M P A C T
Digital technology, the cross-business tool par excellence,
allows Veolia to maximize the impact of its solutions to speed up 
ecological transformation by providing a threefold opportunity.  
centers operating in every geographic zone provide smart 
solutions to monitor, assess and optimize Veolia’s and 
its clients’ businesses. By pooling data, analysis and human 
expertise in real time, they create new opportunities 
to optimize the management of water, waste and energy 
resources. In the Middle East, the very first hypervision 
center started with 250 connected points when it first came 
into service in 2014. Today, that figure exceeds 15,000 data 
collection points for energy, water and waste.
In Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the data provided by 
the Hubgrade 4.0 center is used by Enova – a Veolia 
subsidiary and leader in multi-technical energy services – 
to provide its clients with information about the 
management of their facilities, to help them save energy 
and track performance. Enabling greater collaboration 
between engineers and digital experts working directly 
with clients, this smart monitoring platform provides 
a real-time overview and optimizes maintenance activities.
An opportunity for client relations
Finally, the digital transformation enriches local relations 
with existing and prospective clients. Numerous BUs already 
use Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and some 
are developing a fully integrated commercial ecosystem 
including their website, automated marketing and 
relationship management to improve understanding of 
clients and speed up the identification of prospects using 
digital channels. In the United States, Veolia North America 
leverages the power of data to create new business 
opportunities. Smart digital solutions – personalized 
content – are presented to potential clients. For example, 
by approaching a project in the energy sector in terms 
of analyzing customer invoicing practices, Veolia North 
America was able to win a contract for invoicing services, 
efficiency analysis and sub-meter reading, followed 
in quick succession by a contract for the operation 
and maintenance of the network.
 
How is digital transformation contributing 
to Impact 2023?
Estelle Brachlianoff: It will provide tremendous impe-
tus as a driver for achieving our targets: there can be no 
ecological transformation without digital transformation. 
Of course, digital is a topic of innovation in itself and can 
generate additional revenue. Above all else, this digital 
transformation, in feeding into all our strategic segments, 
helps us stand out better from the competition, provides 
our clients with greater value, changes the way we work, 
and, finally, improves our operational performance while 
saving natural resources. It is a multidimensional topic, 
which explains why we are measuring the 
progress of our digital roadmap using the 
multifaceted performance indicators.
And from here on?
E.B.: Capitalizing on our 65 Hubgrade smart management 
centers, we have started to develop tools to improve the per-
formance of our own assets. Today, in response to clients’ 
expectations, we are providing new value-added services that 
include predictive analysis and artificial intelligence. This 
transformation is taking us towards an “augmented Veolia.” 
While we can capitalize on more than 150 years of experience, 
digital technology is taking us that one step further.
Just what is this roadmap?
E.B.: The digital roadmap provides us with a common 
language across the Group enabling us to easily copy and 
adapt best practices between zones and business units. 
We have a growing number of examples: EnEffco®, 
improved energy for industry, was developed in Germany 
and exported to Hungary, South Korea and Portugal. 
The customer portal developed in the United Kingdom has 
been copied and adapted in Latin America.
“Digital transformation 
is creating an ‘augmented
Veolia’ and taking us that 
one step further.”
 
ESTELLE
 BRACHLIANOFF
 
Chief Operating Officer
INTERVIEW 
25
Veolia Integrated Report 2020 — 2021
24

Announced at the end of August 2020, the project to merge 
with Suez would round out the array of solutions and 
services offered to public and private stakeholders to reduce 
their environmental impact on a lasting basis, making it 
possible to engage more effectively in the ecological battle 
and win the war far sooner.
By increasing our capacity
for innovation
Almost half the solutions needed to win the ecological 
battle within the next twenty years are already known. 
Veolia and Suez have developed many of them. 
To reach their full impact, they need to be duplicated 
and applied widely. And that will require massive 
investment. Other solutions still need to be invented: 
for capturing and reusing carbon, for example, 
or recycling untreated waste. To invent or roll out 
these future solutions, uniting the forces of two French 
industrial champions would make it possible to 
go further, with a higher and faster return on innovation.
G R E A T E R  I M P A C T  B Y  C R E A T I N G , 
W I T H  S U E Z ,  A  G L O B A L  C H A M P I O N  O F
THE ECOLOGICAL
TRANSFORMATION
Critical size, complementary geographical coverage and expertise, 
and innovation potential: joining with Suez to build a global champion 
of the ecological transformation is a sustainable industrial strategy 
in response to the environmental emergency.
By strengthening our position
on the global market
The geographic coverage of the two groups is ideally 
complementary: in Europe, Veolia has a particularly strong 
presence in Central and Eastern Europe and the United 
Kingdom, while Suez’s historic presence is in Spain and 
Northern Europe. Beyond Europe, where our businesses are 
experiencing strong growth, the Group would double its size 
in South America and Australia while also significantly 
improving its positions in North America and Asia. 
The size of the new group would ensure a continued French 
lead in a sector that is still very fragmented and where 
global competition is ramping up.
By creating more value for all
our stakeholders
For the planet, the merger of the two groups would 
speed up environmental solutions, in terms of both their 
identification and their implementation. For the employees, 
this new group would open up significant career prospects 
and many other opportunities. The creation of this global 
leader would provide all clients, in both the public and 
private sectors, with a complete suite of solutions for their 
successful ecological transformation. For society, this 
strengthened group would maintain a sector of excellence 
in France that creates jobs and value as well as potential 
export opportunities for a substantial value chain ranging 
from historical suppliers to start-ups innovating in 
our businesses.
A champion of job creation
Veolia is committed to 
ensuring that this planned 
merger would have no 
negative effect on 
employment in France. 
Given the growing needs in 
its businesses, the Group will 
have no problem in meeting 
this commitment. Despite 
the economic crisis due to 
the health situation, Veolia 
continues to hire: there were 
more than 1,000 positions 
to be filled at end 2020 in all 
regions of France.
These are essential and 
meaningful, non-relocatable 
jobs based in the regions, 
such as those at the first 
recycling plant for lithium-
ion batteries, which are used 
in electric and hybrid electric 
vehicles; located in Dieuze, 
in northeastern France, this 
Veolia plant will quickly be 
tripling in size. New pilot 
industrial sites of this 
nature, new jobs and new 
learning pathways are also 
expected to develop in 
France around the ecological 
transformation, before 
spreading out across other 
zones and regions where 
Veolia operates.
1,000
POSITIONS TO FILL
IN FRANCE 
(AT END 2020)
27
Veolia Integrated Report 2020 — 2021
26

CHAPTER3
Being the benchmark company for the ecological transformation means…
BEING A
PARTNER
29
Veolia Integrated Report 2020 — 2021
28

MOBILIZED AND
UNITED
I N  R E S P O N S E  T O  T H E  C O V I D - 1 9  C R I S I S 
Worldwide, Veolia provides daily services to meet 
communities’ basic needs for water, energy and waste treatment. 
The Covid-19 pandemic has, more than ever before, highlighted 
the essential nature of these businesses. 
At the start of the pandemic, Veolia activated its continuity 
plan, country by country and business by business, just as 
many countries were implementing exceptional measures 
to slow the virus’s spread. The aim was to guarantee both 
the continuity and quality of its services and its employees’ 
safety. Veolia cut back the number of employees working 
in the field to avoid cross-contamination. Measures were 
taken to ensure the teams were able to work safely, despite 
the less favorable conditions: strict compliance with hygiene 
recommendations, appropriate protective equipment, 
distribution of masks, enhanced disinfection of vehicles 
and equipment together with team rotation and working 
from home. 
More crucial than ever
Employees everywhere demonstrated a high degree 
of agility. In China, the Veolia team in charge of the district 
heating network in Jiamusi kept physical visits to a 
minimum by turning its call center into a hotline to solve 
customer issues remotely. In Italy, one of the most affected 
countries in Europe, some 3,000 Siram employees worked 
tirelessly to help open new beds in hospitals in the 
Lombardy, Friuli and Campania regions. In Hong Kong, 
the Veolia teams worked nonstop to maintain and even 
increase the number of negative-pressure isolation wards 
at Princess Margaret Hospital, which are essential for 
protecting non-Covid-19 patients and medical staff from 
contamination from the virus. 
Treating contaminated waste 
The health crisis and lockdowns forced many economic 
sectors to either shut down or reduce their activity. 
However, hospitals, clinics and other health centers had 
to pick up the pace to deal with the influx of Covid-19 
patients, resulting in particular in a massive increase 
in the volume and treatment of infectious medical waste, 
masks, gloves and single-use gowns. In France, 
where the volume of waste increased by 60% in certain 
hospitals in the country’s west and Paris region, the teams 
had to rise to the occasion and deal with this urgent 
situation. The number of drivers in Veolia’s operational 
unit in Le Loiret was increased from 8 to 15 to collect 
some 300 containers a day, compared with an average 
of 160 under normal circumstances. 
Water access:
the key to protecting health
In May 2020, Bangladesh had the third highest number 
of coronavirus cases in South Asia after India and Pakistan. 
The Grameen Veolia Water (GVW) team took measures 
to ensure social distancing and the continued supply 
of drinking water compliant with WHO standards 
to the 4,000 people connected to its consumer network. 
UNI
ECUADOR
150,000 families 
benefited from 3,000 m3 
of free water a day 
under the Sinai Water Project, 
and 1,500 food baskets 
were distributed 
by Veolia to the most 
underprivileged families 
in Guayaquil. 
HUNGARY
Veolia donated 
medical equipment – 
infusion pumps, 
bronchoscopy and 
electrocardiogram 
devices – to the Szeged 
City Hospital that 
so far has been used 
for 400 patients.
COLOMBIA
5,000 m3 of free drinking 
water was distributed 
in hard-to-reach 
residential areas. 
CAMEROON
The Veolia Foundation 
worked with Bangangté 
Municipality on a program 
to improve access to water, 
boost hospital personnel 
numbers and equipment, 
support local farmers, 
provide food baskets 
and offer unemployed 
youth a job 
making soap. 
CZECH 
REPUBLIC 
In Prague, Veolia employees 
distributed lunches to 
the elderly and hospitals. 
The Group supplied 
15,000 items of protective 
equipment to hospitals 
and nursing homes. 
The employees sewed 
4,500 protective masks. 
FRANCE
The Campus de Jonage, 
Veolia’s training center 
in Lyon, France, provided 
55 individual housing units 
for the most vulnerable 
to ensure they had access 
to basic hygiene standards 
that are crucial to preventing 
the spread of Covid-19. 
Learn about Veolia’s 
“On the front line” teams 
on YouTube
31
Veolia Integrated Report 2020 — 2021
30

Anticipating
and monitoring
Covid-19 risks 
Right from the start of 
the pandemic, the Group’s 
crisis unit swung into action 
to anticipate and adapt 
to the situation by creating 
a specific unit to predict 
medium- and long-term 
measures (from two to 
eighteen months), overseen 
by the Strategy and Risk 
departments. This 
forecasting unit introduced 
weekly diagnoses of 
the market situation and 
management charts 
– monitoring indicators 
of the virus’s propagation 
and government measures – 
to track the pandemic’s 
evolution in the regions 
where Veolia operates. 
It also provides support for 
Veolia’s geographic zones 
and BUs to predict the 
measures needed in response 
to the virus’s propagation 
phases (a checklist of priority 
measures and the associated 
documents). 
Veolia working alongside customers
During the lockdown when the pandemic first peaked, 
many industrial businesses had to shut down their plants 
or continue to operate at a reduced scale. 
Once it was possible to resume normal activity, it was 
essential to rapidly and safely restart critical equipment: 
boilers, turbines, cooling towers, heat exchangers, 
wastewater treatment and process water production plants, 
etc. Veolia was able to work with industrial and municipal 
customers to ensure activity resumed as safely as possible 
by implementing Hydrex® Chemical Solutions, a complete 
range of audit services, risk assessment – corrosion, 
fouling, bacterial growth, risk of Legionnaire’s disease, etc. – 
monitoring and chemical treatment programs, as soon as 
they were able to exit lockdown. In China, for example, 
the Sinopec petrochemical plant in Yanshan, near Beijing, 
and the Michelin tire plant near Shanghai were able to rely 
on the rapid response of their local teams. In the UK, 
where numerous waste drop-off centers had to close 
– resulting in extensive illegal dumping of recyclable, 
hazardous or bulky waste – the government reclassified 
waste drop-off centers as essential services. 
Leveraging its expertise, Veolia outlined organization 
and logistics recommendations for local authorities 
to help them with the smooth reopening of waste drop-off 
centers, even those not managed by Veolia.
Solutions developed out of the crisis
New needs arose out of the pandemic for which the Group 
sought to find rapid solutions. Risk anticipation became 
a major issue for local and regional authorities. 
Launched at end 2020, the Vigie-Covid-19 service is 
an innovative tool for local authorities. As wastewater 
can indicate the presence of a viral epidemic, this innovation, 
based on the PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) method, 
can be used to monitor the epidemic’s progress. It uses 
weekly samples to identify the presence of SARS-CoV-2 
coronavirus genetic material in wastewater at the treatment 
plant intake. 
The disinfection of indoor spaces to restore confidence has 
also become a major concern that is crucial for ensuring 
activity can resume under controlled sanitary conditions. 
The customized “Covid-19 disinfection” service has been 
designed for office buildings, apartment blocks and 
premises open to the public, as well as retail stores, mass 
transit, industrial or construction and civil works sites, which, 
depending on their needs, may opt for nebulizing, spraying 
or bio-cleaning techniques. In several countries – especially 
in Latin America – Veolia was also contracted to disinfect 
and spray outdoor spaces. 
Meeting of the crisis unit in March 2020 before masks were available.
33
Veolia Integrated Report 2020 — 2021
32

FROM
MANAGING RISKS
T O  I D E N T I F Y I N G  N E W  O P P O R T U N I T I E S
Risk management is an integral part of Veolia’s strategy. 
The Group uses a specific method to identify, rank and manage risks, 
and also turn them into opportunities.  
A standard approach shared
by all Group entities
The Risk Department coordinates the risk management 
system with its network of risk managers in the zones and 
business units. A shared process for identifying and ranking 
events liable to prevent the Group from achieving its targets 
has been rolled out throughout the Group to standardize 
risk management. A tool and method shared by the entire 
network are used to consolidate major risks by zone and 
business unit.
From identifying to managing risks: 
a process of continuous improvement
Veolia has developed an approach that is specific to its 
business for each step in the risk identification and 
management process. This unique methodology makes 
the process even more robust with the application of five 
objective criteria: governance, organization, process and 
controls, training and assessments. The risk management 
systems are assessed jointly with the functional and 
operational departments to determine the roadmap 
to follow for turning a risk into an opportunity.
Supporting
the company’s transformation to achieve
its multifaceted performance objectives
In 2020 and 2021, for each strategic move toward 
multifaceted performance, the Risk Department worked 
with the departments in charge of steering the process 
to  define each risk and the current level of risk control 
and identify the measures needed to achieve the target 
set for 2023.
(1) The Veolia group’s risk mapping is published in the Universal Registration Document on page 80.
4
Prioritize 
and address 
residual risks
Risk sheets and description 
of the action plans
5
Communicate 
about risks
Universal Registration Document, 
integrated report, responses to rating 
agencies, presentations to external 
stakeholders
1
Identify the risks
Risk universe and description 
of the risks
2
Rank the risks
Impact on the company’s 
performance and level of control 
3
Assess the appropriateness 
and effectiveness of 
the means of control
Describe the current methods 
and risk management metrics. 
Identify areas for opportunities
6
Update the risk 
mapping(1)
Risk identification campaign 
(zones and BUs), interviews at 
the corporate level and with 
Board members
  NATHALIE
RACHOU
                Veolia Board Member 
“Having been a Veolia Board 
member since 2012, I have 
been able to observe each 
year’s changes in the risk 
mapping and the attention 
given to both anticipating 
and managing risks. 
These changes are all the 
more satisfying in that risk 
management is inseparable 
from the implementation 
of the Group’s strategy and 
the rollout of Impact 2023, 
its multi-year, multifaceted 
performance plan.
Risk mapping and crisis 
management exercises are 
sometimes viewed as being 
theoretical and irrelevant 
to situations on the ground. 
The health crisis has been 
a sort of crash test, proving 
once and for all that risk 
anticipation and the 
implementation of early 
prevention and protection 
measures are key aspects 
of the Group’s ability to 
manage a crisis, whatever 
it may be.
Risk management tools 
such as tracking the virus’s 
spread and the priority 
measures to ensure business 
continuity in each phase 
of the pandemic, are an 
excellent illustration of that. 
The risk management 
changes introduced in 2020 
confirm, once again, the 
system’s continuous 
improvement in matching 
risks with the action plans 
to be implemented.
As Chair of the Accounts 
and Audit Committee, 
I am closely involved 
in Veolia’s risk mapping 
each year alongside 
the members of the Board. 
I have found that Veolia’s 
risk management system 
has become an essential 
dashboard for both 
the governance bodies 
and the operational 
departments. For example, 
the Group was prompted 
to modify the system 
to consider impacts across 
a wider scope, including 
the use of non-financial KPIs.”
RISK MANAGEMENT
Responsibility at the most 
senior level:
•  Oversight by Antoine Frérot, 
Chairman and CEO 
of Veolia
•  Meetings with key 
directors to identify risks
•  A risk-based approach 
incorporated into 
the work of the Board’s 
strategic seminar
•  Risk mapping approved 
by the Group’s governance 
bodies, zones and business 
units
Key interaction with:  
•  Operational departments 
in the zones and BUs 
•  All functional departments, 
especially the Strategy and 
Innovation Department, 
business and performance 
support functions, legal and 
financial departments, etc. 
•  Insurance Department 
•  Internal Control and 
Internal Audit Department
1
2
3
4
5
6
RISK 
ASSESSMENT
APPLICATION 
OF RISK 
MANAGEMENT
35
Veolia Integrated Report 2020 — 2021
34

HEALTH AND SAFETY
C O N T I N U O U S  I M P R O V E M E N T
“Zero accident” is a concrete target for Veolia and a performance 
driver involving all levels in the company’s organization. 
ETHICS 
AND COMPLIANCE
N O  T R U S T ,
N O  P E R F O R M A N C E
In 2020, Veolia reasserted its commitment to ethics and compliance, 
in line with its purpose. The Group’s aim is to continue to garner 
employees’ respect for essential values and principles. 
Encouraging work conditions that foster ethical behavior 
on a daily basis is one of the main thrusts of Veolia’s 
strategy. As sources of trust and value for each of 
the Group’s stakeholders, ethics and compliance are 
inseparable from the company’s growth, performance 
and attractiveness. 
A worldwide campaign
Since it was formed in 2018, Veolia’s Compliance 
Department has focused on developing and strengthening 
the compliance culture within the Group. In 2020, aiming 
to bring all employees onboard, the department stepped up 
its efforts by launching a worldwide awareness campaign 
with the Ethics Committee. Called “Ethics and Compliance: 
No Trust, No Performance,” it concentrates on the benefits 
from following ethics and compliance standards and rules. 
It also underscores the importance of each employee’s 
involvement, whatever his or her job or where it is 
performed. The campaign uses a broad range of materials 
and methods: posters, informational kits in comic book 
format, kits for managers on moderating meetings, a video, 
etc. The campaign kicked off on the same day as the UN’s 
International Anti-Corruption Day, December 9, 2020. 
Support and supervision
An information campaign dealing with risk situations 
that may be encountered when conducting Group activities 
will also be passed on to the teams locally in 2021 by their 
managers. Indicators reflecting the rollout of this approach 
will be collated and presented to the various stakeholders 
and to answer any questions oversight authorities may have.  
A 2020 campaign targeting behavior 
For the sixth International 
Health and Safety at Work 
Week, the Group chose 
to concentrate on behavior 
with its “What you see is 
not what I see” campaign. 
Managers at all sites used 
a “perception game,”
a library of images and 
responses identifying 
350 dangerous situations 
in the Group’s activities. 
The aim was to help teams 
identify their unconscious 
behavior. A video about 
the importance of perception 
where safety is concerned 
enhanced the lessons offered 
by the game. 
Lowering the workplace accident frequency rate to 5 
by 2023, across the Group’s entire scope, is one of its 
purpose indicators. To achieve this target, Veolia relies 
on several drivers. Management  commitment is absolute 
at all levels in the Group with the impetus coming from 
the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and Executive 
Committee. Particular attention is paid to the worst 
performing business units. Health and safety are the first 
topics addressed in business reviews with the geographical 
zones or in internal seminars. Performance is tracked 
and verified using standard Group indicators, irrespective 
of the applicable local legislation. In addition, the Group 
has created a management handbook and a center 
of excellence where best practices are discussed. 
Covid-19: 
employee safety above all
Veolia has offered real support to its employees dealing 
with workplace stress as a result of the epidemic. 
The Group issued personal protective equipment as soon 
as possible – especially surgical masks – taking into account 
the risks presented by each work situation. To ensure they 
all understood and shared the protective measures essential 
for health safety, an internal communication system 
was rolled out at all sites. Finally, the Group went beyond 
regulatory requirements by offering a voluntary PCR test 
to all its employees and external staff working at its sites. 
(Read also pages 30 and 31.) 
46.5%
OF TRAINING COURSES 
DEAL WITH HEALTH 
AND SAFETY 
67.7%
OF EMPLOYEES
RECEIVED SAFETY TRAINING 
IN 2020
10%
OF EXECUTIVE BONUSES
ARE CONTINGENT ON WHETHER 
HEALTH AND SAFETY TARGETS 
ARE MET 
MORE THAN
650
MEETINGS CONDUCTED 
BY MANAGERS 
(BY END OF JANUARY 2021)
37
Veolia Integrated Report 2020 — 2021
36

CREATING VALUE
FOR ALL OUR
CHAPTER4
Being the benchmark company for the ecological transformation means…
39
Veolia Integrated Report 2020 — 2021
38

Companies are increasingly approached by investors 
about their integration of the goals of the Paris Agreement. 
In response, Veolia reviewed its Impact 2023 strategic plan 
using scenario-based analysis tools applied to climate 
change issues. Those study results were used to 
systematically quantify each scenario’s impact in 
the Group’s risk mapping and assess its financial implications. 
The choice of transition scenarios was included in the recovery 
plans implemented after the first wave of the Covid-19 
pandemic in all the countries where the Group operates. 
(Those plans include a significant focus on funding activities 
for the low-carbon transition, both in Europe and Asia). 
The internal Steering Committee, chaired by the Executive 
Committee’s Climate sponsor and including representatives 
from the Strategy and Sustainable Development 
departments and the CEOs of the main BUs, selected fifteen 
business opportunities and around ten risks that were 
included in the strategic planning review. 
In 2020, Veolia renewed its support for “Act4Nature”, 
an initiative that aims to create a strong collective dynamic 
for the protection of biodiversity. Reflecting its purpose, 
the Group established a 2020-2023 action plan. 
It has committed to expanding its action, in particular 
C R E A T I N G  V A L U E  F O R
THE PLANET
In 2020, Veolia took its commitment for the planet 
to the next level. The aim is to go further and faster by matching 
its strategic vision with operational levers. 
by deploying its various tools (Ecological management 
calculator, practical guide to ecological management, 
Green Spaces Charter, etc.), extensively at its sites and for 
its stakeholders. This involves implementing a biodiversity 
footprint tool and strengthening its action plans in seven 
critical countries: France, the United Kingdom, Germany, 
Australia, China, Poland, and the United States. 
A second life for batteries
By 2030, the number of electric vehicles on the road 
worldwide is expected to increase from today’s 8 million to 
116 million. Currently, the components used to manufacture 
lithium-ion batteries are mainly imported. 
To promote their recycling and manufacture in France, 
Veolia created a circular-economy consortium in 2020 
with Solvay that uses both partners’ best technologies 
and expertise. A Veolia subsidiary, Euro Dieuze Industrie, 
has already developed a hydrometallurgical process
for recovering precious metals from the batteries.  
Performance
recognized in several
benchmark
classifications
•  Inclusion in stock market 
indices: DJSI (Dow Jones 
Sustainability Index) World 
and Europe, FTSE4Good 
and Euronext Low Carbone 
Europe 100
•  “Prime” excellence status 
by ISS-ESG research 
in December 2020, with 
a B rating
•  An A– rating for CDP 
Climate Change 2020 and 
for CDP Water Security 
questionnaires
•  In its role as a supplier, 
ranked as one of the top 3% 
of companies appraised 
by EcoVadis, an agency 
providing CSR assessment 
of the supply chain, 
in March 2020
Unmatched green gas capacity
in Europe
In 2020, Veolia and Waga-Energy announced the 
construction of a WAGABOX® at the Claye-Souilly landfill 
in the Greater Paris region. For a period of 15 years starting 
in 2022, this gas upgrading unit will recover biomethane 
from landfilled waste, producing 120 GWh of gas annually. 
This will make it the second largest project of its type 
in France and the largest facility for producing green gas 
at a non-hazardous landfill in Europe. Able to supply 
biomethane to 20,000 local households, the site will become 
part of the local energy loop and contribute to the region’s 
ecological transformation by avoiding 25,000 metric tons 
of CO2 each year. 
Training:
the key to understanding the issues
In its Impact 2023 plan, Veolia has firmly committed 
to reducing its own carbon footprint and that of its 
customers. To help managers get behind this performance 
target, the Group created a specific e-learning module called 
“Acting for the planet – Climate change challenges.” 
This mandatory course sets out the main climate change 
issues worldwide, Veolia’s commitments and the best ways 
of supporting teams, customers and suppliers as they 
undergo their ecological transition. 
25,000
METRIC TONS OF CO2 
AVOIDED EACH YEAR
AND
20,000
HOUSEHOLDS IN GREATER PARIS
SUPPLIED WITH BIOMETHANE
FROM A WAGABOX® UNIT STARTING 
IN 2022 
41
Veolia Integrated Report 2020 — 2021
40

A
S
I
A
A
U
S
T
R
A
L
I
A
 
A
N
D
 
N
E
W
 
Z
E
A
L
A
N
D
 
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O
R
T
H
 
A
M
E
R
I
C
A
 
L
A
T
I
N
 
A
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E
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I
C
A
 
A
F
R
I
C
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N
D
 
M
I
D
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E
 
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A
S
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EUROPE
278,494
jobs supported
€5,522 M
in wealth created
16,059
jobs supported
€1,356 M
in wealth created
123,292
jobs supported
€2,091 M
in wealth created
74,091
jobs supported
€1,461 M
in wealth created
44,144
jobs supported 
€4,852 M 
in wealth created 
188,601
jobs supported
€6,016 M
in wealth created
C
E
N
T
R
A
L
 
A
N
D
 
E
A
S
T
E
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N
 
E
U
R
O
P
E
 
In 2018, Veolia commissioned Utopies to conduct 
a socioeconomic footprint study in France using the Local 
Footprint® approach(1). The study was expanded in scale 
in 2019 to include in the analysis 51 countries representing 
98% of Veolia’s revenue. In 2020, the study was repeated 
across this international scope. This approach is a response 
to heightened expectations among the regions, which want 
to ensure that a growing percentage of the added value 
created from Veolia’s products and services is generated 
locally and therefore contributes to regional economic 
growth. The study provides quantified proof of the Group’s 
local commitments (purchasing, employment, responsible 
taxation, etc.) that goes beyond a simple communications 
campaign. It also offers proof to partners (investors, 
local communities, etc.), that there is a local return on 
investment. Finally, this degree of transparency also meets 
the new CSR reporting requirements (ISO 26000, direct 
and indirect economic impacts, and purchasing practices 
required by the Global Reporting Initiative, article 225 
of France’s Grenelle 2 law on environmental commitments, 
integrated reporting, etc.). 
C R E A T I N G  V A L U E  F O R
SOCIETY
Veolia’s contribution is not limited to services and products 
supplied in the regions. Wherever the Group operates, 
its direct and indirect socioeconomic footprint is far greater. 
(1) By reproducing in a highly realistic manner how a local economy works, Local Footprint® explains the way in which a region reacts to monetary flow, 
but it also identifies potential areas where the knock-on effects can be improved. (Source: Utopies 2015).
Access to basic services 
for all 
Access to water is particularly critical 
to complying with Covid-19 preventive 
measures. To give homeless people and 
those living in makeshift accommodation 
(migrants, squatters, slum dwellers, etc.) 
the ability to protect themselves, the Veolia 
Foundation joined forces with the French 
Red Cross’ Croix-Rouge Insertion initiative 
and the non-profit Solidarités International 
in spring 2020 to produce and distribute 
health kits in the field in cooperation with 
the French NGO Médecins du monde.
Redistribution
of revenue
Payroll, taxes, dividends 
paid to shareholders, 
purchases from local 
suppliers, sponsorships, 
etc.: the revenue generated 
by Veolia creates value 
for the regions through 
various redistribution 
mechanisms. 
€26,010 M
REVENUE
EMPLOYEES
Payroll
€6,192.9 M
SHAREHOLDERS
Dividends
€426 M
SUPPLIERS
Purchases and other 
€16,658.1 M
STATES AND 
LOCAL AUTHORITIES 
Taxes
€2,302 M
BANKS
Net bank charges 
€414.4 M
NON-PROFITS 
AND COMMUNITIES 
Sponsorships, 
studies and grants
€16.6 M
VEOLIA’S 
SOCIOECONOMIC 
FOOTPRINT
1.1 M
JOBS 
SUPPORTED WORLDWIDE 
BY VEOLIA’S BUSINESSES 
30%
VEOLIA’S DIRECT 
ADDED VALUE 
31%
OF ADDED
VALUE 
FROM HOUSEHOLD 
CONSUMPTION 
26%
OF ADDED
VALUE
FROM SUPPLIERS
13%
OF WEALTH
CREATION
THROUGH TAXATION 
€51 bn
IN WEALTH CREATED 
WORLDWIDE 
(CONTRIBUTION TO GDP) 
NORTHERN EUROPE 
98,104
jobs supported 
€9,354 M
in wealth created 
UNITED KINGDOM 
AND IRELAND
50,643
jobs supported 
€4,036 M
in wealth created 
FRANCE
188,642
jobs supported
€13,392 M
in wealth created
SOUTHERN EUROPE
43,318
jobs supported
€2,941 M
in wealth created
43
Veolia Integrated Report 2020 — 2021
42

Listening to encourage participation
In the exceptional context of the pandemic, the 2020 
“Voice of Resourcers” engagement survey provides lessons 
about employees’ mobilization. The 70% participation rate 
was up 12% over 2019’s 58%. This reflects the engagement 
of the 57,000 employees who responded massively in China, 
Central and Western Europe as well as Morocco, North 
America and Argentina. The 90% participation rate of the 
Top 5,000, the main Group managers who are the historic 
core of this survey, was up by 8%. The “Voice of Resourcers” 
survey was conducted entirely online (QR codes, apps, 
mobile links), with a strong response rate among 
local managers.
C R E A T I N G  V A L U E  F O R
EMPLOYEES
For Veolia, creating value above all means getting its employees 
onboard with the ecological transformation. 
It also means preparing for the future by helping upcoming 
generations assume their role.
OLIVIER CARLAT
Director of training and 
Social development
“The employee engagement 
rate, one of the purpose 
indicators, is up 3% 
in 2020 at 87%. The scores 
for the clarity of targets, 
useful contribution, pride 
in belonging and projection 
into the future reveal 
a confident and involved 
Veolia community, despite 
the difficulties in 2020. 
I would point out that 
90% of respondents from 
all geographical regions 
approved of the Group’s 
Covid-19 crisis management 
for its employees.”
Work-study: 
Keeping the most
vulnerable on track 
Young people were among 
the worst affected by the 
health crisis. Veolia was one 
of 20 leading corporations 
and organizations that 
pledged support for the 
“grande rentrée de 
l’apprentissage” (a national 
job dating event) in an op-ed 
published in late August 
2020. The Group paid 
particular attention at the 
start of the academic year 
last September to continuing 
its intake of students on 
work-study programs – 
especially the most 
vulnerable in terms of their 
curriculum or digital 
knowledge – in its campus 
network. The aim is to avoid 
the dropout rate seen during 
the first lockdown and to 
allow all students to continue 
to work on building their 
future career within Veolia’s 
teams.
Training to encourage transformation
Upskilling all our employees is a crucial driver for 
our ecological transformation, which necessarily involves 
the transformation of professions. In 2020, during 
the Covid-19 crisis, Veolia adapted its training courses 
by stepping up the use of digital technology to replace 
face-to-face teaching, in particular. Latin America 
went online for all its employee training and 
engagement courses. 
Strengthening the culture of diversity
Veolia has set itself the target of strengthening a culture 
of diversity in its businesses, and increasing the percentage 
of women it its governance and management. 
Two programs in particular are focused on these goals: 
the internal WEDO network, which now has almost 
3,000 members in more than 40 countries, and the WIL 
(“Women in Leadership”) program, a distance coaching 
system to create career opportunities for women managers.  
Preparing the future with
and for the next generations
Veolia supports the next generation’s united engagement 
and smooths the way for them into its businesses. 
Created by the Veolia Foundation together with the Group’s 
Human Resources Department, the annual Student 
Solidarity Prize recognizes innovative and community-
focused projects. In 2020, three student associations 
received a prize, each in one of the Foundation’s areas of 
interest. One of the winners was the Ficha project 
submitted by students from the Grenoble Business School. 
This innovative system is designed to promote and reward 
selective sorting of waste in apartment blocks, which have 
the lowest level of compliance. In the past ten years, the 
Veolia Summer School has trained 363 future graduates 
from 142 universities in 33 countries. Veolia was the first 
company in the environmental services sector to introduce 
a summer school, back in 2010. Its aims include bringing 
talented young people together from around the world 
to share their culture and perceptions of the world, 
raising awareness of environmental issues, improving 
the Group’s attractiveness and establishing relations 
with their universities. 
The pandemic meant that the 11th annual summer school 
was run entirely online with 51 students from 23 countries. 
Grouped by time zone, they worked in teams and had live 
discussions with Veolia employees from their geographical 
region or headquarters, and with recently hired young 
employees. Over four days, the teams were introduced to 
the challenges for environmental businesses and were asked 
to tackle a specific challenge related to key topics for Veolia 
(e.g., waste management and digital management, 
cooperation culture, air quality, hydrogen and electric 
vehicles, sustainable agriculture, marine pollution, the 
European Green Deal, battery recycling) with real-time 
results while applying the Group’s working methods and 
processes. After the Summer School, meetings were 
organized locally and with Veolia recruiters to explore 
various ways to work with the participants (internships, 
work-study programs and first jobs). 
87%
VEOLIA EMPLOYEE 
ENGAGEMENT RATE  
(C/W 79% IPSOS SECTOR 
BENCHMARKING) 
2,000
WORK-STUDY STUDENTS 
AT VEOLIA 
IN FRANCE IN 2020, 
UP FROM 1,800 
IN 2019 
45
Veolia Integrated Report 2020 — 2021
44

To forge a closer relationship with its customers, Veolia 
relies on the Net Promoter Score (NPS), a method that 
delivers detailed information about dissatisfaction 
and expectations and can be used to implement short- or 
longer-term corrective action, if necessary. This process was 
initiated in 2019 by the Group’s 10 main business units. 
Independently audited each year – like all of Veolia’s 
multifaceted performance indicators – the campaign was 
further enhanced in 2020. Extended to include an additional 
13 business units, its coverage now reaches 300,000 customers 
and 10 million consumers worldwide. The business units 
in Australia, France, the United States, Poland and the United 
Kingdom have all used NPS to improve attention to their 
customers and adjust their solutions accordingly. 
C R E A T I N G  V A L U E  F O R
CUSTOMERS
In a difficult context, the Veolia teams maintained, 
or even improved, their close ties with customers.
The aim was to create lasting value for and with them. 
A Greenboard for Sanofi
Sanofi has been one of 
Veolia’s major customers 
since 2016. It all began with 
a call for tenders for waste 
management at the 
pharmaceutical company’s 
French sites. At the time, 
they wanted to improve and 
simplify their complete 
waste management. Sanofi 
was looking for a provider 
able to manage all its waste 
while complying with 
the priorities of its 
environmental strategy 
(Planet Mobilization), based 
on recovering waste and 
significantly improving their 
environmental footprint. 
Veolia’s proposal to Sanofi 
was to create a “Greenboard,” 
a set of management 
indicators to track and 
improve performance at its 
sites. Since then, Veolia has 
been entrusted with waste 
management at other Sanofi 
sites in the United States, 
Singapore, Mexico and 
elsewhere around the world, 
where it has likewise 
introduced this best practice 
first adopted in France. 
Featuring 11 KPIs aligned 
with the client’s priorities, 
the Greenboard offers an 
easy way to report, mine and 
oversee data from the field, 
not only for contract 
management purposes but 
also to address Sanofi’s HSE 
priorities, such as training, 
reporting and information. 
Veolia provides very tangible 
support to help the 
pharmaceutical company 
achieve its environmental 
targets. 
In Ecuador, 
apps and chatbots 
maintained contact
To maintain close relations 
with their customers at 
the height of the health crisis, 
the entities found ways to 
innovate by making good use 
of the possibilities offered 
by digital technology. 
In Ecuador, for example, 
the Veolia teams introduced 
a chatbot to answer level 
one calls – a virtual operator 
to answer the most general 
questions – and videocalls 
for more personalized 
customer service. Above all, 
Veolia Ecuador accelerated 
the development of its 
Interagua app to provide 
its customers with an 
effective and easy-to-use tool 
to manage their accounts. 
Improving through
customer feedback
In France, Waste Solutions extended the NPS process 
to all its businesses. For Water, France’s Center-West region 
presented the NPS questionnaire for the first time to its local 
authority customers, which was favorably received. 
Said the region’s director of development, “The teams were 
hesitant about doing it, but they very quickly understood 
that it was an excellent tool. NPS provides customers 
with a new means of expression, enabling us to react very 
quickly to their criticisms or reasons for satisfaction.” 
Providing for greater autonomy
Despite the health crisis, the Veolia teams in the United 
Kingdom received a good response rate to the NPS survey 
and saw the emergence of a new demand for online access 
to data concerning the service provided – very useful in 
a period of lockdown and/or when most people are working 
from home. Customer Hubs were set up or improved locally 
(Australia and New Zealand, Germany, Latin America, 
United Kingdom, Water France, Waste Solutions (France), etc.). 
In particular, these hubs provide greater transparency 
thanks to key performance indicators online and enable 
the development of systems to manage operation of their 
infrastructure autonomously, together with customer services. 
In response to rising demand to speed up the creation of 
customer portals (for example, in Northern Europe and Asia), 
the Group is rolling out expert digital resources and a range 
of plug-in modules.
300,000
CUSTOMERS INCLUDED
IN THE NET PROMOTER 
SCORE (NPS) PROCESS 
IN 2020
47
Veolia Integrated Report 2020 — 2021
46

Connecting profit and purpose, factoring in climate risk, 
seeking a more sustainable form of capitalism… long-term 
investors are no longer satisfied today with financial return 
alone. They demand greater consistency from companies 
between their strategy and their environmental, social 
and governance commitments (the so-called ESG criteria). 
Today, CO2 emissions, employee diversity, the quality 
of the workplace dialogue within the company, and even 
transparency around executives’ remuneration packages, 
for example, are closely examined. 
Many investors, including BlackRock, State Street Global 
Advisors, Amundi and BNP Paribas Asset Management, 
are convinced that the companies that take sustainable 
development issues seriously will be more resilient over 
the longer term. 
C R E A T I N G  V A L U E  F O R
SHAREHOLDERS
The consistency in Veolia’s strategic plan, its mobilization 
for the ecological transformation and its multifaceted approach 
to performance have earned the trust of shareholders. 
Growing number
of employee
shareholders
Veolia has set itself the target 
of involving an ever-greater 
number of employees 
in its growth. Its employee 
share ownership plans meet 
with growing success each 
year. 51,000 employees from 
31 countries subscribed to 
the Sequoia 2020 share plan, 
22% more than in 2019. 
As of December 31, 2020, 
4.06%(1) of the equity was 
owned by employees(2), 
which will mean the 
appointment in 2022 of 
an employee representative 
director to the Board of 
Directors(3). Collectively, 
Veolia employees are their 
company’s third largest 
shareholder. 
(1) Direct and indirect 
shareholders, including via 
financial investment vehicles. 
(2) Including former employees 
and retirees. 
(3) French law requires the 
presence of a director representing 
the employee shareholders in all 
“SA” and “SCA” companies when 
the employees own at least 3% 
of the share capital. 
Transparency to build trust
Veolia is particularly well-placed to meet these expectations, 
especially because of its multifaceted approach to performance 
and the “CSR variable” in its executives’ remuneration 
packages. Given these commitments, the Group maintains 
a relationship of trust with its shareholders, demonstrating 
its ability to create value over the long term. In order to build 
on this trust and remain open to their concerns, Veolia 
maintains a continuous dialogue with its shareholders and 
is committed to answering their questions. The Group has 
created a very comprehensive system for these discussions: 
meetings of the individual shareholders’ consultative 
committee, shareholders’ newsletter, and a dedicated page 
on its website. Each year, the Senior Independent Director, 
who chairs the Group’s Compensation Committee and 
is a member of the Nominations Committee, meets with 
the main institutional investors at governance roadshows. 
Transparent and fruitful discussions
Held in January 2020, these meetings were an opportunity 
to gather observations and questions about the 
implementation of Veolia’s purpose and the integration of 
purpose-related performance indicators in executives’ 
variable remuneration, in advance of the Shareholders’ 
Meeting. These ESG indicators specifically include the fight 
against climate change and the employee gender balance. 
In the past, discussions with investors also helped inform 
certain purpose indicators, such as reducing greenhouse gas 
emissions, based on progress made with the investment plan 
to eliminate coal in Europe by 2030. As a result of the quality 
and transparency of relations with its shareholders, in 2020 
Veolia was able to count on their support in dealing with the 
impact of the coronavirus epidemic on its businesses: on 
April 22, the Group put to the vote at the Shareholders’ 
Meeting payment of a €0.50 cash dividend, down from the €1 
announced previously. 
51,000
EMPLOYEES
SUBSCRIBED
TO THE SEQUOIA
2020 PLAN
49
Veolia Integrated Report 2020 — 2021
48

By engaging with civil society stakeholders (NGOs, social 
entrepreneurs, consumer associations, community groups, 
universities, etc.), Veolia builds lasting relations with all 
its stakeholders, seeking consultation and co-construction.
This dialogue is based on voluntary and regular discussions 
between the Group – especially its executive bodies – and 
its stakeholders (in various discussion forums: Critical Friends 
committee, meetings with top-level experts, the Veolia 
Institute foresight committee, working groups, symposiums 
and international events). The Group has also issued 
an in-house methodology guide, “Understanding, Talking 
and Acting with our Local Stakeholders,” that helps our 
operational teams and sustainability coordinators enhance 
their outreach. 
L I S T E N I N G  M O R E
T O  I M P R O V E  D I A L O G U E  W I T H
STAKEHOLDERS
The rapid market changes and the diversity of geographical contexts 
where Veolia operates require discussion and continuous consultation 
with all stakeholders, local, national and international.
Reconciling strategic objectives
with stakeholder expectations
In 2020, Veolia conducted a survey of its stakeholders 
to update the materiality analysis of its CSR issues. 
The aim was to gage the perception of the Group’s 
orientations, especially those concerning its multifaceted 
performance. Twenty-four CSR issues were identified. 
These were then assessed by almost 200 internal and 
external stakeholders during online consultations 
conducted between April and November 2020 by 
consultants Des Enjeux et des Hommes in eight Veolia 
business units and before a panel of corporate stakeholders. 
The internal stakeholders were asked to assess the impact 
of CSR issues on Veolia’s business, while the external 
stakeholders assessed their level of expectation from 
the Group. In addition to this analysis, 75 interviews 
were conducted with volunteers from the cohort of 
stakeholders who had answered the questionnaire. 
During these interviews, the discussion focused on the risks 
and opportunities associated with the CSR issues, 
and on improving stakeholder dialogue.
Following this survey, the most concrete issues 
were identified:
• worldwide;
• for each country studied;
• by category of stakeholder. 
The survey in figures
188 respondents:
> 121 external stakeholders in 13 categories;
> 67 employees including 19 managers.
8 business units(1): Water France, Australia, China, Colombia, 
Czech Republic, Germany, United Kingdom, and United States.
VEOLIA’S MATERIALITY MATRIX
Commercial
performance
a   Quality of essential services, 
customer and consumer 
satisfaction
b   Safety of facilities and services 
provided to customers
c   Innovation for sustainable 
solutions
d   Customer and consumer data 
privacy and safety
Environmental
performance
e   Sustainable resources 
management
f  Circular economy
g   Pollution and waste 
management
h   Fight against climate change 
i   Implementation of solutions 
for climate change resilience 
and adaptation
j   Biodiversity and habitat 
protection
Social performance
k   Contribution to the right 
to water and access 
to essential services
l   Corporate ethics
m   Responsible procurement
n   Territorial responsibility 
o   Patronage, sponsorship 
and solidarity actions
Governance performance
p   Responsible fiscal 
management
q   Responsible corporate 
governance
r   Engagement with our external 
stakeholders
Human resources
Performance
s   Health and safety 
of employees
t   Social dialogue
u   Quality of life at work
v   Attractiveness 
and employee retention
w   Professional development 
of Veolia employees
x   Diversity, social mix and fight 
against discriminations
EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS EXPECTATIONS
+
u
r
f
h
i
d
STRATEGIC IMPACT
0
1
1
2
2
3
3
+
j
The 10 most material challenges for Veolia’s
external and internal stakeholders
b  Safety of facilities and services provided to customers
a  Quality of essential services, customer and consumer satisfaction
s  Health and safety of employees
e  Sustainable resources management (water, energy, waste)
g  Pollution and waste management
l  Corporate ethics
c  Innovation for sustainable solutions
q  Responsible corporate governance
h  Fight against climate change
f  Promotion of the circular economy
(1) Survey conducted using the matrixes created in 2019 for the Africa-Middle East geographical zone.
p
b
g
m
o
n
t
v
x
k
w
s
a
e
q
c
l
51
Veolia Integrated Report 2020 — 2021
50

CHAPTER5
Being the benchmark company for the ecological transformation means…
MANAGING BASED
ON OUR
53
Veolia Integrated Report 2020 — 2021
52

13
DIRECTORS
2
DIRECTORS
REPRESENTING EMPLOYEES
62
AVERAGE AGE
OF DIRECTORS
Veolia’s governing bodies maintained a particularly 
intense level of activity in 2020. The extent of the issues 
at stake required frequent Board meetings with 
a particularly high attendance rate and the regular use 
of videoconferencing during the pandemic. The end-of-year 
strategic seminar – addressing the Group’s main 
objectives – is a stand-out moment on the Board’s annual 
agenda. It is carefully prepared with the Board with 
particular reference to expectations expressed 
by the members.
Intense activity in a year
unlike any other
Confirming its key role in strategic discussions, in 2020, 
the Board also focused on:
•  Management of the pandemic 
Regularly informed of the measures implemented 
to ensure protection of the employees, business continuity 
and resumption of operations, the Board also had to make 
decisions about revisions to the bonus policy budget 
targets and adjustments to the performance plans.
•  The Suez merger project 
In 2020, this project was addressed in several Board 
meetings and part of the annual strategic seminar was 
devoted to it. A small committee of four independent Board 
members, with their own legal and financial consultants, 
was created specifically to investigate this topic. 
This committee met 16 times between August 1, 2020, 
and January 31, 2021.
•  Rollout of the purpose 
The Board again examined Veolia’s purpose, a driver for 
decision-making and performance, addressing in particular 
its adoption by the employees and how to integrate it into 
the company’s decision-making and daily processes.
A G I L E  A N D  E N G A G E D
GOVERNANCE
In a key year for the rollout of the strategic program and in a context 
of an acute health crisis, the Group’s governance has demonstrated 
its cohesion and commitment to serving a shared project. 
Adaptive governance
Veolia’s governance continues to evolve in accordance 
with best practices. In 2021, the Board of Directors made 
progress on two fronts: independence and the number 
of female directors, with the departure of one 
non-independent director. The Board will be reduced 
to 12 members with a view to its potentially opening up 
to new directors from Suez. Following the success 
of the Sequoia employee share ownership plan(2), 
a change in the bylaws to admit a director representing 
employee shareholders will be put to the approval 
of the Shareholders’ General Meeting for a proposed 
appointment in 2022.
Composition 
of the Executive
Committee(3)
Antoine Frérot
Chairman and Chief Executive 
Officer
Estelle Brachlianoff
Chief Operating Officer
Olivier Brousse
Senior Executive Vice President, 
Strategy and Innovation
Philippe Guitard
Senior Executive Vice President, 
Central and Eastern Europe
Éric Haza
Chief Legal Officer
Jean-Marie Lambert
Senior Executive Vice President, 
Human Resources
Claude Laruelle
Chief Financial Officer
Christophe Maquet
Senior Executive 
Vice President, Asia(4)
Jean-François 
Nogrette
Senior Executive Vice President, 
Veolia Technologies 
and Contracting
Laurent Obadia
Communication Director
Helman le Pas 
de Sécheval
General Counsel 
Frédéric Van Heems
Senior Executive Vice President, 
North America(5)
Members of the Board of Directors 
and their key areas of expertise(1)
Antoine Frérot
Chairman and Chief 
Executive Officer
 
 
 
 
 
Louis Schweitzer
Vice-Chairman
 
 
 
 
Jacques 
Aschenbroich
 
 
 
 
 
Maryse Aulagnon
Senior Independent Director
 
 
 
 
 
Caisse des dépôts 
et consignations, 
represented by 
Olivier Mareuse
 
 
Isabelle Courville
 
 
 
 
 
Clara Gaymard
 
 
 
 
 
Marion Guillou
 
 
 
 
Franck Le Roux
Director representing 
employees
 
Pavel Páša
Director representing 
employees
 
Nathalie Rachou
 
Paolo Scaroni
 
 
 
Guillaume Texier
 
 
 
 
Matrix of directors’ expertise
  International 
experience
 Industry
  Experience in Veolia’s 
businesses
 Digital technology
 Banking and finance
 CSR
 R&D
 Public affairs
(2) As of December 31, 2020, 4.06% of Veolia’s capital was held by the employees.
(3)  As of the publication date of the 2020 Universal Registration Document.
(4) Effective April 2, 2021.
(5) Effective June 1, 2021.
(1) At December 31, 2020.
45%
FEMALE DIRECTORS
97.44%
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE
RATE IN 2020
3
NON-FRENCH
DIRECTORS
55
Veolia Integrated Report 2020 — 2021
54

A dual reporting system
In 2020, the nine CSR commitments (see opposite) 
coexisted with the multifaceted performance objectives 
(see page 58) for the first year they were introduced. 
The aims of the 2015-2020 program were largely carried 
over into the purpose dashboard, either unchanged or 
with a different perspective. The targets not included 
in this dashboard are still tracked internally through HR and 
social reporting and the 2020-2023 Environmental Plan. 
Most 2015-2020 commitments
were met
Of the 13 targets set, eight were met or exceeded and five 
were not fully met, reflecting the ambitious initial goals:
•  The Environmental Management System (EMS) has been 
rolled out in all countries except one, although there have 
been several delays in reports being sent.
•  Regarding the climate, the target for reduced emissions 
was not met because of the loss of certain businesses that 
have a high impact on this indicator (SEEG, Vilnius heating 
network and Laogang landfill contracts). Furthermore, 
methodology adjustments were made to align with 
international standards.
•  The divestment of businesses that made substantial 
contributions to lowering emissions (metal recycling 
in France) also helps explain why the target set for avoided 
emissions was not met, as well as lower-than-expected 
growth in Asia.
•  For the biodiversity indicator, several sites that had 
performed their diagnostics were removed from the scope, 
and certain geographic zones were unable to finalize their 
diagnostics because of the health crisis in 2020.
COMMITTING
T O  M U L T I F A C E T E D  P E R F O R M A N C E
In 2015, Veolia released its CSR roadmap focused on nine 
commitments in three areas (resourcing the planet, resourcing 
regions, and for the company’s men and women) along with 
13 indicators. This program was completed in 2020.  
•  Finally, regarding the target of ensuring over 95% 
of employees have access to a social dialogue machenism, 
the final rate of 86% can be explained by the growth 
of industrial businesses, where there are fewer branch 
agreements than in the municipal sector, and 
the increasing presence in the Group of countries 
where the implementation of such measures 
is not authorized.
Cross-business commitment:
steer environmental performance
•  Deploy our internal Environmental 
Management System (EMS) for all 
of our operational activities
95%
Sustainably manage natural
resources by encouraging
the circular economy
•  Generate more than €3.8 billion in revenue 
in the circular economy
€5.2 billion
Contribute to combating
climate change
•  Capture over 60% of methane 
from landfills we operate
•  Achieve 100 million metric tons of CO2 eq. 
of reduced emissions
•  Achieve 50 million metric tons of CO2 eq. 
of avoided emissions
• 65.9%
•  93 million metric tons of CO2 eq.
•  42.3 million metric tons of CO2 eq. 
avoided
Conserve and restore
biodiversity
•  Carry out a diagnosis and deploy an action 
plan at 100% of sites with significant 
biodiversity issues
73%
Build new models for relations and
value creation with our stakeholders
•  Have established a major partnership 
based on creating shared value in every 
business zone and growth segment
11/11 business zones and 7/7 growth 
segments covered
Contribute to the development
and attractiveness of regions
•  Maintain expenditure reinvested
in the regions above 80%
87.3%
Supply and maintain services
crucial to human health
and development
•  Contribute to the United Nations
Sustainable Development Goals,
in the same way as we contributed to
the Millennium Development Goals
11.3 million people given access
to drinking water and 4.6 million 
to sanitation in countries with
an access deficit since 2000
Guarantee a safe and healthy
work environment
•  Achieve an injury frequency rate of less 
than or equal to 6.5
6.6
Encourage each employee’s
professional development
and commitment
•  Deliver training to over 75% of employees 
annually
82%
•  Maintain the manager commitment
rate at over 80%
94%
Guarantee that diversity
and fundamental human
and social rights are respected
within the company
•  Ensure over 95% of employees have access 
to a social dialogue mechanism
86%
 2020 
PERFORMANCE 
2015-2020 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT COMMITMENTS
2020 
TARGET
COMMITMENTS
8
TARGETS
MET OR EXCEEDED
57
Veolia Integrated Report 2020 — 2021
56

Environmental performance
2018
2019
2020
ISO 14001 certifications (% of revenue covered)
69
68
72
Direct emissions of GHG (scope 1 – million metric tons of CO2 eq.)
29.6
26.3
25.0
Indirect emissions of GHG linked to energy purchases (scope 2  – million metric tons of CO2 eq.)
5.1
5.2
5.0
Main indirect emissions of GHG (scope 3 – million metric tons of CO2 eq.)
15.6
10.9
10.8
Emissions of GHG avoided (million metric tons of CO2 eq.)(1)
‒
12.1
12.8
Energy consumption (in millions of MWh)
114
110
114
Share of consumed renewable or recovered energies (as a %)
40.0
44.9
46.4
Energy production (thermal and electrical  – in millions of MWh)
56.0
51.6
53.0
Of which thermal energy production (in millions of MWh)
39.6
35.8
36.4
Share of renewable or recovered energies produced (as a %)
31.3
36.0
36.1
Renewable energy production (in millions of MWh)
12.4
13.6
14.1
Energy efficiency of energy production by cogeneration (heat and electricity – as a %)
72.8
73.0
74.2
Share of biomass in the energy consumption of energy production plants (as a %)
12 
19 
23
Methane capture rate from landfills (pro forma 2015-2020 – as a %)
63.6
62.9
65.9
Electricity consumed for drinking water production (in Wh/m3) by factories 
exceeding 60,000 m3 
233
238
229
Electricity consumed for wastewater treatment (in Wh/m3)(2) 
337
342
330
Waste tonnage treated (in millions of metric tons)
48.9
49.8
47.3
Tonnage of materials recovered from treated waste (in millions of metric tons)
10
9.8
9.4
Of which tonnage of recycled plastics in Veolia transformation plants 
(in thousands of metric tons) 
–
350
391
Heat produced from waste treated (in millions of MWh) 
3.2
3.4
3.3
Non-hazardous waste produced (in thousands of metric tons – all activities)
5,522
5,612
5,627
Hazardous waste produced (in thousands of metric tons – all activities)
796
865
997
Share of sites with significant biodiversity issues which carried out a diagnosis and deployed
a biodiversity action plan (pro forma 2015-2020 – as a %)
61
72
73
Volume of wastewater collected (in billions of m3)
6.5
6.7
5.8
Volume of wastewater treated (in billions of m3)
5.8
5.9
5.2
DBO5 treatment efficiency of wastewater treatment plants(2) (as a %)
95.6 
96.0
95.9
COD treatment efficiency of wastewater treatment plants(2) (as a %)
90.9
91.9
91.4
SOx emissions (in metric tons)
12,920
13,188
13,832
NOx emissions (in metric tons)
20,302
20,991
22,484
Dust emissions (in metric tons) of thermal installations selling over 100 GWh/year 
and waste incinerators
783
641
776
NOx emissions (g/MWh) of thermal installations selling over 100 GWh/year
273
279
230
SOx emissions (g/MWh) of thermal installations selling over 100 GWh/year 
224
196
169
Dust emissions (g/MWh) of thermal installations selling over 100 GWh/year
13
12
12
Total volume of water abstracted (in billions of m3)(3)
9.829
10.096
9.337
Volume of drinking water produced for public authorities (in billions of m3)
8.334
8.409
7.676
Volume of drinking water introduced into supply networks for public authorities (in billions of m3)
9.028
9.136
8.414
Share of sites with significant water stress issues that were diagnosed (2016 scope – as a %)
92
96
–
Share of sites with significant water stress issues that were diagnosed (2019 scope  – as a %) 
–
–
36
Efficiency rate of drinking water networks serving over 50,000 inhabitants 
(pro forma 2015-2020 – as a %)
75.3
75.4
76.0
ADDITIONAL INDICATORS 
MULTIFACETED PERFORMANCE DASHBOARD
OBJECTIVES AND
ASSOCIATED INDICATORS
2019 
BASELINE
2020
RESULTS
2023
TARGET
Economic and financial performance
  Revenue growth
Annual growth in published revenue
  Profitability of activities
Current net income – Group share 
  Return on capital employed
Post-tax ROCE (with IFRS 16)
  Investment capacity
Free cash flow (before discretionary investment)
€27.2 billion
€760 million
8.4%
€1,230 million
€26.0 billion 
€415 million
6.4%
€942 million
Annual target
€1 billion
Annual target
Annual target
Human resources performance
  Employee commitment
 Commitment rate of employees measured by an independent survey
  Workplace safety
Lost time injury frequency rate
  Employee training and employability
Average number of training hours per employee per year
  Diversity
Proportion of women appointed between 
2020 and 2023 among the Group’s Top 500 executives
84%
8.12
18 h
Not applicable
87%
6.6
17 h
28.3%
≥ 80%
5
23 h
50% 
Environmental performance
 Combating climate change
•  Reduction in GHG emissions: progress with the investment plan 
to eliminate coal in Europe by 2030
•  Avoided emissions: annual contribution to avoided 
GHG emissions (assessed with regard to a reference scenario)
  Circular economy: plastic recycling
Volume of transformed plastic, in metric tons of products 
leaving plastic transformation plants
  Protecting natural environments and biodiversity
Rate of progress with action plans aimed at improving the impact 
on the natural environment and biodiversity at sensitive sites
  Sustainable management of water resources 
Efficiency of drinking water networks(2) (volume of drinking water 
consumed/volume of drinking water produced)
Not applicable
12 million metric
tons of CO2 eq.
350 thousand
metric tons
Not applicable
72.5%
8.1% of total achieved
investment
12.8 million metric
tons of CO2 eq.
391 thousand 
metric tons
1.6%
73.4%
30% of investment
to be achieved(1) 
15 million metric
tons of CO2 eq.
610 thousand 
metric tons
75%
> 75%
Customer satisfaction performance
  Customer and consumer satisfaction
Customer satisfaction rate calculated 
using the Net Promoter Score methodology
  Development of innovative solutions
Number of innovations included in at least 10 contracts signed by the Group
  Hazardous waste treatment and recovery
Consolidated revenue of the “Liquid and hazardous waste treatment 
and recovery” segment
Not applicable
Not applicable
€2.56 billion
NPS = 41 with 57% 
of the revenue covered
2
€2.53 billion
NPS > 30 with 75% 
of the revenue covered
12
> €4 billion
Social performance
  Job and wealth creation in the regions 
 Socio economic footprint of Veolia’s activities in the countries where 
the Group operates, with regard to direct and indirect jobs supported 
and wealth created
  Ethics and compliance
Percentage of positive answers to the commitment survey question 
“Are Veolia’s values and ethics applied in my entity”
  Access to essential services (water and sanitation) 
Number of inhabitants benefiting from inclusive solutions 
to access water or sanitation services under Veolia contracts
Not applicable
92% of Top 5,000
5.78 million 
inhabitants
1,105,388 jobs 
supported and €51 billion 
of added value created
95% of Top 5,000
6.12 million inhabitants
(+7%)
Annual assessment
from 2020 of Veolia’s
impact in 45 countries
≥ 80% on all 
respondents
+12% 
at constant scope
(1) The cumulative amount since 2019 of investments in new forms of energy to eliminate coal in Europe by 2030 has been estimated at €1.2billion.
(2) For networks serving over 50,000 inhabitants. At constant perimeter.
59
Veolia Integrated Report 2020 — 2021
58

Human resources performance
2018
2019
2020
Total workforce as of December 31
171,495
178,780
178,894
Annual full-time equivalent workforce
162,740
171,212
171,450
Share of workforce with permanent contracts (FTE) (as a %)
91.3
93.4
92.4
Total non-managerial staff (as a %)
87.8
87.8
86.7
Turnover (workforce with permanent contracts)
12.9
12.9
11.6
Injury frequency rate
8.47
8.12
6.60
Injury severity rate
0.47
0.45
0.43
Percentage of employees who participated in at least one training course
77
80
82
Average number of training hours per employee per year
17.8
18
17
Commitment rate of employees (as a %)
–
84
87
Commitment rate of managers (as a %)
86
92
94
Rate of coverage by a social dialogue body (as a %)
89
88
86
Percentage of women
21.0
21.1
21.4
Percentage of women in management
26.5
27.3
28.2
Percentage of employees with disabilities
2.36
2.58
2.50
Social performance
2018
2019
2020
Percentage of spending reinvested locally
85.7
86.3 
87.3 
Share of strategic suppliers evaluated in the past three years (as a %)
55
61
70
Population with new access to drinking water since 2015 (in millions of people)
3.9
5.1
5.6
Population with new access to sanitation since 2015 (in millions of people)
1.8
1.9
2
(1) New methodology.
(2) By wastewater treatment plants with a population capacity equivalent greater than 100,000.
(3) For the Energy business. Scope limited to heat production and distribution facilities exceeding 100 GWhTh.
This document was prepared by Veolia’s Communications 
and Sustainable Development Departments.
The 2020-2021 integrated report project team:
• Sponsor: Group Secretary-General.
•  Co-oversight: Communications Department and Sustainable Development Department.
• Integrated discussion committee and contributors:
– Strategy and Innovation Department;
– Technical and Performance Department;
– Human Resources Department;
– Legal Department;
– Finance Department;
– Risk, Insurance and Coordination of Internal Control Department;
– Compliance Department.
Chief Communications Oﬃ  cer: Laurent Obadia.
Editing and coordination: Tania Kieﬀ er, Armelle Perrin-Guinot, Arthur Thoux.
Translation: Alto International.
Photos and graphics: Laure Duquesne and Gilles Hureau.
Photo credits: Juan Xavier Borja/Avatar, Shin Takahashi, Justin Grainge. 
Veolia image bank: Christophe Daguet, Rodolphe Escher, Olivier Guerrin,  
Stéphane Lavoué, Christophe Majani d’Inguimbert, Daniele Mattioli/Interlinks Image, 
François Moura, Jean-Marie Ramès, Christel Sasso/CAPA Pictures, 
Gilles Vidal/MAD Production. Getty Images/Qi Yang.
Design and production:
Printed by STIPA.
In order to protect the environment, this document 
has been printed by an Imprim’Vert®. certified printer
on Symbol Matt Plus paper that is FSC®. certified and made 
using fiber sourced from responsibly managed forests
and other controlled sources.
Through the Climate
Solidarity Initiative,
the carbon footprint of
the present report has been
offset by supporting
conservation and
agroforestry projects 
in France and Peru organized
by the Pur Projet nonprofit
organization.
60

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