Veolia Environmental Services
Veolia Environmental Services (in French Veolia Propreté), formerly Onyx Environnement, is a division of Veolia Environnement. It employs nearly 78,000 staff, has operations in 35 countries around the world, and generated revenues of nearly €9.02 billion in 2009. It specialises in the management, treatment and disposal of waste, as well as the recycling, reclamation and re-use of waste products. Veolia Environmental Services manage solid and liquid waste, as well as hazardous and non-hazardous waste materials. In 2009, the company collected 42.7 million tonnes of waste, treated 62.5 million tonnes, and recycled 12.7 million tonnes . In 2015, Veolia North America was paid $40,000 to produce a report on Flint, Michigan's water supply. Veolia Vice President Rob Nicholas asserted that the water was safe to drink and met state and federal standards. The report received additional scrutiny in 2016 after a state of emergency was declared over toxic levels of chemicals detected in Flint's water supply. A Veolia spokesperson asserted that testing for lead and copper levels was beyond the scope of their work. History. 1853: The French Compagnie Générale des Eaux (CGE) began as a water industry company. 1953: CGE begins to  collect household waste. 1975: The firm SARP Industry is founded to treat hazardous waste. 1980: CGE takes full control of the Compagnie Générale de Chauffe (CGC), a company with which it has already operated incineration plants since 1967. CGE also assumes control of the Compagnie Générale d'Entreprises Automobiles (CGEA), a business with significant presence in household waste management and in urban transportation. 1986: CGE opens its first waste drop-off centres. 1989: Creation of the Onyx Environnement brand, which unifies all of CGEA's waste management activities. 1998: Parent company CGE was renamed Vivendi. 1999: Creation of Vivendi Environnement to  consolidate environmental activities of Vivendi. Vivendi Environnement divested by Vivendi between 2000 and 2002. 2003: Vivendi Environnement becomes Veolia Environnement. 2005: Onyx becomes Veolia Environmental Services. Boycotts. Veolia has been the target of boycotts and divestment campaigns, primarily by pro-Palestinian groups. In 2013, a "Dump Veolia" campaign organized by the St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee succeeded in halting approval of a multi-million dollar contract with Veolia. The pro-Palestinian group opposed contracting with Veolia on three primary human rights grounds. They allege that: In 2012, Veolia withdrew from a £4.7 Billion contract in north London, under pressure  from a 2-year campaign by the No to Veolia Action Group (No2VAG). In addition to the objections of the "Dump Veolia" campaign, No2VAG also highlighted what it described as racist literature in Veolia's advertisements for drivers, which required completion of military service and a "mother tongue" of Hebrew. Several university organizations have supported anti-Veolia protests and boycotts, including at Oberlin College and at the University of Sheffield. In 2013, the Sheffield Palestinian Solidarity Group succeeded in petitioning the university to end their waste management contract with Veolia. Activities. Veolia Environmental Services collects, recycles and treats waste. Its  activities cover liquid waste, solid waste, hazardous or non-hazardous waste, and refuse collected from household and industrial sources. Company services. For private companies, it delivers the following services: In 2009, Veolia Environmental Services had 819,000 business customers in the world. Public authority services. For local authorities and boroughs (for example in Paris, London, Alexandria, Singapore and Dresden), Veolia Environmental Services collects and sorts waste, transports it to treatment subsidiaries and plants, and operates landfill sites. Some contracts secured by Veolia Environmental Services in 2010: Sorting and recycling. Veolia Environmental Services operates 352 centres for sorting and recycling. It treats  and recycles waste to produce raw materials for industry. This includes collecting paper, cardboard, glass, plastics, wood, metal and waste electrical and electronic items. Treatment and recovery of waste. A number of Veolia Environmental Services are based on specific treatment and waste recovery techniques and technologies. In 2009, Veolia sold: Hazardous waste treatment. Veolia Environmental Services is a specialist in the treatment of hazardous waste materials. These include toxic liquid wastes, battery acids and fluids, solvents and metals. It has 71 physical-chemical hazardous waste treatment facilities. In a demonstration of its business offer in this area, Veolia Environmental Services  was contracted by the Ukrainian Environment Ministry to safely dispose of 1,000 tonnes of pesticide. Veolia Environmental Services worldwide. Veolia Environmental Services is located in 32 countries around the world: