Veolia: New environmental initiatives make local plant most sustainable facility of its kind in U.S.

From Veolia North America

GUM SPRINGS, Arkansas — Demonstrating a deeply held commitment to environmental sustainability, Veolia North America on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, hosted a celebration at its hazardous waste treatment center in Gum Springs, highlighting a series of unprecedented initiatives to make the plant the most sustainable operation of its kind in the U.S.

The ceremony put a spotlight on VNA’s commitment and investment in sustainability and workforce development at the Gum Springs operation, where a new state-of-the-art facility for the high-temperature thermal treatment of hazardous waste is set to open in 2025. To prepare for the new facility’s opening, VNA is protecting surrounding natural resources and supporting decarbonization strategies in carbon-intensive industries.

The sustainability features showcased at the ceremony include:

• A 5-megawatt solar panel installation, recently completed to provide a clean source of electricity at the plant. A ceremonial “Flip the Switch” activation will include leaders from VNA and Today’s Power Inc., which led construction of the installation.
• A forest management program, covering over 1,000 acres surrounding the facility, which includes over 600 acres of active reforestation and the planting of 100,000 trees in 2025. The ceremony will include the planting of the first tree sapling.
• A first-of-its-kind innovation for capturing heat to generate electricity. This feature will make use of a 7-megawatt steam turbine to generate power.
• Advanced technologies for monitoring wildlife and biodiversity near the facility. In partnership with the National Museum of Natural History (MNHN) in Paris, France, a cutting-edge LEKO (Light Emission and Kinetic Observation) biodiversity monitoring tool is installed on the property, using sensors to listen, identify, and count species in the surrounding habitat.