SUEZ signs two new contracts for water and waste projects to further support China in its ecological transition

SUEZ announces the signature of two new significant contracts in the water and waste markets to contribute to China’s 2060 carbon neutrality ambition.
In Chongqing, SUEZ is collaborating with its historical partner to enhance the resilience of Chongqing’s water supply system through a new water treatment plant. In Shanghai, the Group is launching its first plastics recovery project in China.

A new water treatment plant to reinforce Chongqing’s water supply system

Amid rapid socio-economic development, leading particularly to growing water demand in the northern region of the city, Chongqing requires resilient infrastructure and essential services that support livelihoods in order to establish a solid foundation for sustainable development.

This has prompted SUEZ and Chongqing Water Group (CWG)¹ to expand their collaboration by jointly investing over €160 million (RMB 1.25 billion) in the construction and operation of a water treatment plant to enhance the resilience of the municipality’s water supply system and contribute to securing safe and reliable water services in the long term.

The new water treatment plant, which comprises water intake and production, pumping stations and water distribution networks, has a designed capacity of 400,000 m³/day. Upon completion of the plant by 2025, SUEZ’s water supply capacity in Chongqing will reach 1.68 million m³/day, providing services from an existing 2.7 million people in Chongqing to over 3.3 million.

SUEZ’s long term cooperation with Chongqing started in 2002. To date, SUEZ has invested more than €510 million (RMB 4 billion) in the city.

In Shanghai, SUEZ’s first plastics recovery project in China to increase recyclable material sorting and recovery in Eastern China

SUEZ and its partner Taichu Environmental Resource Management² have signed a contract to jointly invest in, build and operate six collection and sorting centers for post-consumer plastics in Eastern China. The joint-venture will adopt advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and intelligent information systems to deliver a smart, digitalized, and low-carbon recovery system, with end-to-end traceability. These facilities are scheduled to be completed by early 2024 and will be able to collect and sort approximately 30,000 tons of plastic waste per year.

The proposed project will help improve the regional network of waste material recovery and enhance sorting operations of recyclable materials. It will also contribute towards meeting China’s goal of clean and compliant recovery, recycling, and disposal of plastic waste at scale so as to mitigate China’s plastic waste pollution and promote the country’s ecological transition.

Visiting China this week, where she took on the role of Executive Chairman of the 17th Chongqing Mayor’s International Economic Advisory Council (CMIA), in which SUEZ has been involved since 2006³, Sabrina Soussan, Chairman and CEO of SUEZ commented:

These two contracts demonstrate our relentless commitment to supporting sustainable development in China, by providing resilient and innovative solutions in water and waste services. With the extension of the Chongqing water treatment plant and our entry into the new area of plastic recycling in China, we are determined to work with our Chinese customers to create value across the entire lifecycle of their assets and services and to drive their ecological transition.

Sabrina Soussan, Chairman and CEO of SUEZ

SUEZ in Asia

In Asia, SUEZ’s journey began some 70 years ago, first in Southeast Asia before expanding to China nearly 50 years ago. With 6,500+ employees in China, SUEZ has built over 400 water and wastewater treatment plants. Together with its local partners, SUEZ also provide water and waste recycling and recovery services to 25+ million people and 19 industrial parks. SUEZ is recognized as one of the most influential companies in China and as a service benchmark for leading Asia’s environmental industry. Today, SUEZ works with municipal and industrial customers in more than 30 major cities and regions across China, manages China’s first PPP water contract in Macao, operates one of Asia’s largest hazardous waste incineration facilities in Shanghai, and has invested over RMB 4 billion in Chongqing alone.