Recyclage et valorisation des déchets France



France Recycling and Recovery



Paris, January 21st2016


SUEZ strengthens its biowaste-to-energy activity by acquiring a majority interest in the Méta Bio Energies waste recycling centre


SUEZ acquired a 52% stake in the Méta Bio Energies waste recycling centre, which belongs to the Chazé Environnement group. The centre is specialised in biowaste-to- energy recovery by methanation and the production of organic soil conditioners. Strategically located in Combrée, France, near to the major waste-producing urban centres of Rennes, Nantes, Angers, Le Mans, Cholet and Laval, the site's activities include deconditioning, methanation and composting.


Under the agreement signed between SUEZ and Chazé Environnement, SUEZ has become the majority stakeholder in the Méta Bio Energies waste recycling centre. The other partners, each with a 12.5% share of the capital, are the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (23%), the Avril group, through its subsidiary Sofiprotéol, specialised in the funding of agrifoods businesses, and Evergaz, which specialises in the development, funding and operation of methanation units.


Philippe Maillard, SUEZ's CEO of Recycling & Recovery in France, declared:"We are very happy with the acquisition of this interest in the centre, which furthers SUEZ's strategy to quickly acquire four to five methanation sites, as part of our drive to increase our capacity to produce energy with biogas from waste by 30% in the next five years.Méta Bio Energies has become the fourth methanation unit operated by SUEZ in France1, after the Amétyst, Faulquemont and METHALANDES2sites. And with its dedicated "MÉTHAlab3" laboratory near Paris, SUEZ is pursuing its green energy research and development policy."


Jean-Paul Chazé, Président of Chazé Environment Group declared: "The arrival of SUEZ as majority shareholder allows me to pass on Meta Bioenergy which will make it benefit from its expertise in biological and energy recovery from waste".


Méta Bio Energies produces new and sustainable resources by transforming organic waste, mainly from the agrifoods industry, major producers (hypermarkets and supermarkets, catering



  1. The second methanation unit operated by SUEZ's Organic entity in France.

  2. This methanation unit produces energy and organic fertilizer from duck slurry.

  3. MÉTHAlab is a centre of expertise supporting SUEZ's R&D projects. It helps to design innovative processes and to characterise the methanogenic potential of different organic resources that could form the substrates in methanation projects. MÉTHAlab has been in operation since 2012.

establishments), agriculture and municipal green waste, into energy and fertilizer products. The site, which opened in 2012, includes a deconditioning unit that feeds a 1MW methanation unit producing green electricity. The site is completed by a composting unit producing organic soil conditioners for farmers, market gardeners and commercial gardeners in the region around Angers.


The plant recycles waste to produce up to 8,000MWh of electricity, equivalent to the consumption of more than 2,000 households. The electricity is distributed on the mains network, while the heat is sold to the Solairgies plant, which specialises in the drying of industrial and urban sludge.


The green electricity and heat generated by the methanation unit cut carbon dioxide emissions by about 1,400 tonnes per year.


Through its recycling and recovery activities, SUEZ is working with local authorities and businesses on the optimal and responsible management of all organic waste, while promoting the protection of the environment.


As a key player in the circular economy and the energy transition, SUEZ's recycling and recovery activities in France produced more than 2 million MWh of heat in 2014, or the equivalent of the consumption of 368,000 inhabitants, and 1.5 million MWh of electricity, or the equivalent of the consumption of 620,000 inhabitants. In 2014, SUEZ's industrial organic recovery facilities produced and sold more than 500,000 tonnes of standardised compost for use in agriculture.


CONTACTS


Press SUEZ Analysts / Investors

Isabelle Herrier Naufle +33 1 58 81 24 05

isabelle.naufle@suez-env.com

+33 1 58 81 55 62


Recyclage et valorisation France Hélène de LAGUICHEhelene.de.laguiche@sita.fr

+33 7 84 28 30 94


SUEZ's partners on the Méta Bio Energies site:



SUEZ

We are at the dawn of the resource revolution. In a world facing high demographic growth, runaway urbanization and the shortage of natural resources, securing, optimizing and renewing resources is essential to our future. SUEZ (Paris: SEV, Brussels: SEVB) supplies drinking water to 92 million people, delivers wastewater treatment services to 65 million, collects waste produced by almost 50 million, of waste each year and produces 5,138 GWh of local and renewable energy. With 80,990 employees, SUEZ, which is present on all five continents, is a key player in circular economy for in the sustainable management of resources. SUEZ generated total revenues of

€14.3 billion in 2014.

Suez Environnement Company SA issued this content on 2016-01-21 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 2016-01-21 16:04:12 UTC

Original Document: http://www.suez-environnement.com/news/press-releases/suez-strengthens-its-biowaste-to-energy-activity-by-acquiring-a-majority-interest-in-the-meta-bio-energies-waste-recycling-centre