Veolia and TotalEnergies announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding aimed at strengthening their cooperation on water management and industrial emissions. This partnership is based on an exchange of technological and industrial expertise, with no disclosed contract value.
A technical partnership without immediate financial scope
Veolia, a specialist in environmental resource management, will contribute its expertise in wastewater treatment and reuse, particularly at water-stressed sites operated by TotalEnergies. The oil and gas group will in turn provide its drone-based methane emissions detection technology, developed to optimise the capture of this gas at Veolia-operated waste storage sites.
The two companies are also pursuing joint research on recovering strategic raw materials from complex waste. This includes rare earth elements contained in wind turbine magnets, photovoltaic panels or used batteries, for which industrial treatment remains underdeveloped.
Cooperation extended to international infrastructure
This collaboration follows a recently concluded contract in Saudi Arabia, where Veolia will build a wastewater reuse facility at the Jubail petrochemical complex, operated by Saudi Aramco and TotalEnergies through their joint venture Satorp. The project, valued at more than $800mn, aims to fully recycle the site’s industrial effluents.
TotalEnergies also plans to reduce its freshwater withdrawals by 20% by 2030 at sites exposed to water stress. Veolia will support this initiative by integrating its advanced recycling and treatment solutions. Energy valorisation projects in desalination plants are also under consideration, with TotalEnergies assisting in decarbonising these facilities.
Cross-valorisation of industrial expertise
The partnership reflects a joint ambition to better exploit secondary flows from industrial production. The exchange of expertise between the two French groups also concerns energy optimisation, the production of alternative energy for treatment infrastructure, and the modernisation of certain industrial processes.
The collaboration comes amid growing pressure on resources, with no information disclosed about joint investments or cross-shareholdings.
