Parizska 11
110 00 Praha 1
Tel.: + 420 222 321 648
Fax: + 420 222 321 650
email: veolia@veoliavoda.cz
All companies in the Veolia Voda Group in the Czech Republic are ISO 14001 certified, focusing on the impact of their operations on the environment.
Carbon footprint
On the global stage, Veolia Environnement is a leader among companies that give careful consideration to their carbon footprint. For example, the Veolia Water Division has comprehensive assessments of the carbon footprint of the water treatment technologies it supplies, so clients can decide which technology to use in order to minimize the environmental impact of operating such technology. In this field, companies in the Veolia Voda Group in the Czech Republic conduct periodic evaluations of their activities and will also set targets for further improvement in the coming years.
New tools
Carbon footprintingis not the only available technique for determining the environmental impact of operations. Veolia Voda is also actively involved in the use of holistic methods todeterminethepreferable investments and operational solutions. The latest tool centrally used by Veolia Water is the LCA (Life Cycle Analysis), specifically GABI software, facilitating the analysis of the impact of specific solutions on the carbon footprint and on another nine environmental categories (e.g. acidification).
Protecting biodiversity
Activities associated with the production of drinking water and wastewater treatment, which are the core business of the companies in the Veolia Voda Group, are inherently very closely linked to nature. Veolia Voda's operations undeniably affect the water cycle innature, and therefore, using its own technological know-how, it seeks to minimize the impact of its activities on the environment. In particular, it strives to protect water resources.
2010 International Year of Biodiversity
Examples of projects implemented abroad:
VEOLIA BioGRANTs Veolia and MiNiGRANTs
These are two grant schemes in which employees have the opportunity to apply for financial support for environmentally-oriented community projects in which they are involved on a voluntary basis.
Veolia BioGRANTs - this project by Veolia Voda aims to support, through company employees, the projects of local organizations of conservationists, hunters, fishermen, scouts, local authorities, schools, and individuals which are aimed at improving the environment in the local community site or at helping to protect endangered plant species and animals.
The competition was first launchedin 2010 to mark the International Year of Biodiversity. The project is intended to support community environmental projects with the voluntary involvement of Group employees in the regions.
This is a Veolia Foundation project supporting community projects with the voluntary participation of employees. Inthis case, the projects are of an ecological, social or recreational nature.
Let's Give Back To Nature What Belongs To It
- through the Veolia Foundation, we support the return of eels and salmon to our rivers. In cooperation withthe Czech Fishing Association, we have been releasing these endangered species back into the wild for the past four years.
Collaboration with Jakub Vágner
We support the projects of the world-famous fishing expert Jakub Vágner. We are a partner of the Freshwater Giants project as a means of helping to save the world's largest freshwater fish. In the Czech Republic, we have worked with fishing experts to prepare another project for the conservation of trout and grayling in Czech rivers. In 2012, the project will be extended to other European countries in which Veolia Voda operates. Jakub Vágner is the central figure behind the project Return Nature to Schools, entailing conservation talks and lectures at primary schools throughout the country.
Environmental Code
The Environmental Code is the Group's internal document to which all branches throughout the Czech Republic adhere. It sets out fundamental principles for the environmentally-friendly behaviour of the company and employees, covering areas such as waste sorting, the proper fluid intake of staff, printing, travel, and the consumption of water and electricity.
Trees for Life
Office Depot, in cooperation with the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, plants trees inlocations where Veolia Voda operates water management facilities (water treatment plants, pumping stations, wastewater treatment plants, etc.). The number of trees planted depends on the amount of turnover spent by Veolia with Office Depot.
Besides the an esthetic benefits for the surroundings, the trees form a natural barrier and divert unpleasant odourfrom the vicinity of treatment plants. In the space of two years, 1,551 trees have been planted in Most, Liberec and Hradec Králové and elsewhere as part of the project. Planting will continue in Central Bohemia in 2011.
Čerpací stanice Most Souš se zelená díky společné práci dětí a vodohospodářů
Revitalisation of the Farářství Sewage Pumping Station
Children and water managers plant trees at the Waste Water Treatment Plant in Liberec.
The Veolia Foundation has been the general partner of this international campaign, in which groups of volunteers around the world are organized to clean up illegal dumps, parks, paths, forests, river banks, etc., for four years. In the Czech Republic, Clean Up the World has been held twice a year (in spring and autumn) since 1993 and attracts 8,000 volunteers per year. The campaign coordinator in the Czech Republic is the Czech Union for Nature Conservation.
Veolia Voda - Water House Partner
We support the creation of an environmental visitor centre at Želivka (Švihov) Reservoir. The project has been drawn up by the Czech Union for Nature Conservation in Vlašim, and Veolia has become the main partner. The Water House will be a centre with a modern architectural design built to inform and educate visitors on water and biodiversity conservation in and around Želivka Reservoir. Construction design documents are currently being prepared. Construction is due to start in autumn 2011, with the centre to open its doors in spring 2012.
