As the environmental benchmark company, SUEZ Environment has made research one of its strategic cornerstones. Constant innovation combined with the development of new technologies means SUEZ Environment can meet three major requirements in today's world:

• Controlling climate change and preserving natural resources
• Providing our customers with quality drinking water and irreproachable service
• Protecting the environment and the quality of life

Research central to our business lines: water and waste services

In order to constantly improve our operational skills and construct innovative, environment-friendly offers, SUEZ Environment has developed a global network of research and excellence centres. In 2007, SUEZ Environment devoted 65 million euros to Research, Development & Technology in its two business lines: water and waste services.

Water: Pumping, treatment, distribution, release back into the natural environment, sludge management, protecting the resource… all the stages in the drinking water, industrial water and wastewater cycles are controlled in order to deliver our municipal and industrial customers with quality water and services.

Waste services: from collection, to energy from waste recovery and material recycling, all the stages in the waste cycle are controlled in order to limit the environmental impact and turn today's waste into tomorrow's raw materials.

Unique know-how

SUEZ Environment is universally recognised today for its extremely wide-ranging portfolio of skills. Each year, several dozens of research programs help expand our offer and meet the needs of our customers. This policy of innovation is applied with a constant focus on anticipating new regulatory constraints and providing solutions to the environmental issues of today and tomorrow.


Knowledge transfer, a key factor for success

SUEZ Environment deploys its innovations through a tried and tested process for sharing our knowledge and experience. Each year for example, the CIRSEE (International Research Centre on Water and the Environment), one of SUEZ Environment largest research centres, carries out 700 technical assistance and training assignments.

This transfer of know-how takes place on a global scale. No less than 360 different training schemes are available for water business lines. In Morocco, for example, more than 80,000 hours of training are given each year, and in China, 79 training courses are available.

To further improve this transfer of know-how in water and waste services, in 2007, SUEZ Environment set up WIKTI (Water International Knowledge Transfer Initiative). Using specialised tools, this innovative programme analyses the level of skill of a water company, to determine its needs and ensure the traceability of knowledge acquisition by local personnel.