Long-time partners
TotalEnergies and Veolia have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to deepen cooperation across key areas of the energy transition and circular economy, supporting their shared commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption. The partnership aims to accelerate the scaling up of innovative industrial processes and foster research into future-oriented sustainability challenges, benefiting the broader industry.
Under the agreement, both companies will combine their industrial expertise:
- Veolia will bring its strengths in water resource management and resource recovery from new waste streams.
- TotalEnergies will contribute its capabilities in methane emissions measurement and reduction, along with the production and supply of low-carbon energy solutions.
Tackling Methane Emissions from Landfills
Veolia plans to deploy TotalEnergies’ AUSEA technology—an advanced drone-based system for detecting and quantifying methane emissions—across its landfill sites. Early tests have shown the technology’s accuracy in identifying leaks and pinpointing high-emission zones, providing a fast and reliable method to reduce emissions.
This initiative supports Veolia’s goal to capture 80% of methane emissions from landfills by 2032 and demonstrates how the technology can be effectively applied beyond the traditional oil and gas sector.
Reducing Water Footprint in Industry
Veolia will assist TotalEnergies in achieving its target to reduce freshwater withdrawals by 20% by 2030 (compared to 2021) at sites in water-stressed regions, while also improving effluent quality.
Building on their recent collaboration with SATORP (a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and TotalEnergies) in Saudi Arabia, the two companies will develop wastewater reuse projects for TotalEnergies’ industrial facilities, integrate municipal wastewater into production processes, and deploy Veolia’s advanced water treatment technologies.
Making Desalination More Sustainable
TotalEnergies will support Veolia in integrating low-carbon energy solutions into its desalination operations. The companies have already partnered to build the largest solar-powered desalination plant in Oman, marking a major step toward cleaner water production.
This initiative aligns with Veolia’s plan to double its desalination capacity by 2030, while further cutting the energy consumption of a process that already uses ten times less energy than in the past.
Recovering Strategic Resources from Waste
Finally, the partnership will also focus on recovering critical materials from under-utilized waste streams. Veolia and TotalEnergies will combine their R&D capabilities to develop industrial-scale processes for extracting strategic chemical elements such as rare earths—essential components in wind turbines, solar panels, and batteries.
Through this strengthened collaboration, TotalEnergies and Veolia aim to deliver practical, scalable solutions that drive progress toward a more sustainable, low-carbon, and circular industrial future.
“I am very pleased with the agreement signed today with TotalEnergies: by combining our expertise, whether in sustainable water management, the circular economy or the reduction of methane emissions, we are putting our innovation capabilities at the service of the ecological transformation and the competitiveness of our industries”, commented Estelle Brachlianoff, Veolia's Chief Executive Officer.
"We are delighted with this partnership with Veolia. TotalEnergies has cutting-edge solutions and technologies to offer Veolia and vice versa. Together, we can make a concrete contribution to the energy transition and the circular economy. We are convinced that cooperations like those we are developing with Veolia are very useful to make tangible progress and sustainably limit the environmental footprint of our companies", said Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies.
