Mallet looks to draw on Veolia expertise for UK

The “international to local message” was spelt out to letsrecycle.com by chief executive Jean-Dominique Mallet, who heads up Veolia Environmental Services (UK) and also has responsibility for Ireland, Norway and Australia.

He explained: “Our business is international but it is every time very local as well. Waste by its nature is created and collected at the local level and has to be treated locally. The UK [councils and industry] should be able to benefit from our experience – see the solutions we have experienced that go along with their objectives.”

Mr Mallet, who is 55 and French, has worked in the waste sector since 1994 for Veolia, which has its headquarters in Paris and operates a range of services throughout the world, including waste management, water, energy and transport.

The UK chief executive has a Masters in civil engineering from France's school of public works as well as impeccable academic credentials in business and economics. His study of these topics has been complemented by experience in construction and banking – both key knowledge areas for the waste sector in the UK.

Prior to his promotion to the UK post in May 2007, Mr Mallet supervised the company's activities in Australia, Africa, the Middle East and southern Europe. It was in Africa in particular that he became involved in large scale waste management projects and was to learn the importance of local solutions with a parallel consideration of infrastructure in global terms.

Local

Talking about Veolia's long-term contract awarded in 2001 for the city of Alexandria in Egypt – which has a population of four million – he has said that it had been important for the company to work closely with the local governor and municipal authority adding that the “worst error that can be made is when you fail to respect local culture.” And, in terms of finance he has recognised the importance of financial mechanisms, such as those developed by the World Bank for modern water and waste services in the developing world: “These will make it possible in the years to come for large cities from the developing countries to put in place their disposal facilities while lowering the total cost.”

So, with this background the UK local authority sector will not come as too much of a challenge, and he appears confident that he knows what he has to do and what he is working with. One regional manager said: “When Jean-Dominique visited us soon after arriving in London he certainly asked all the right questions and knew what we were talking about and what was going on.”

In comparison to his predecessor Cyrille du Peloux, Mr Mallet has the advantage of knowing waste management and the English language well on his arrival in London. On language, he says: “My Australian experience is good for the language, and is not to be underestimated.”

English

He is also well-aware that the French-owned company could offer more opportunities to its English workforce especially as the UK now represents Veolia Environmental Services' second largest market in turnover terms.

Traditionally French men have held the top executive posts within Veolia. Mr Mallet says: “It is an important part of our corporate profile to promote the mobility of staff. There are not many English – they must like the UK, but possibly it is our fault. There are some English guys in Australia, the Gulf – it does happen.”

Technical

The technical side of Veolia's business should benefit, says Mr Mallet, from drawing on the company's experiences worldwide and he describes his aim as to have Veolia as a “reference point” for the sector. This technical expertise, he noted, does have to be applied in light of the geology, landmass and legislative framework for different countries.

“There are many issues with technology, collection and treatment in Australia that are similar issues in the UK, although landfill will not be banned in the US or Australia. Other countries have different priorities – the US for example has land, has room for landfills. Great Britain is an island, there is scarce availability.”

One landfill option he knows well is bioreactors. Examples are to be found in Australia and Alexandria where leachate is recirculated within the landfill to speed up landfill gas production and the biostabilisation of the waste. The process can mean landfill gas rates increase by a factor of 3-10 times.

Mr Mallet says that the faster landfill is made inert, the better. But, he will not say whether the process will be developed on a substantial scale at Veolia's UK sites. “We have to make sure we have eco incentives to accelerate the process and the right geological structure to receive the waste.”

Health and safety

Mr Mallet has two other major responsibilities in his brief for Veolia worldwide – leading on technology and health and safety.

On technology he says the UK has made use of the company's experience in France. “We have a technical group ensuring that the information flows – each part of the world can share the information so if compost is an issue in the UK then we can exchange information with France. We also have a very important research centre which is centralised but doesn't preclude some local input and this carries out applied research with universities.”

On health and safety, Mr Mallet is to the point: “The UK statistics are not appalling but they are not great. They are average and the UK deserves better statistics for waste management. This can be achieved through day-to-day training and reinforcing the message that there is no mercy for unacceptable behaviour. If we have to sack someone for really unacceptable conduct, we will.”

Growth

Within the UK, he says that growth for Veolia will come from natural growth, in PFI and other contracts, commercial work and from acquisitions. Mr Mallet said: “Holland's paper recyclers are a good example of how we look at the options that make sense geographically.” In terms of future purchases, he said: “We are going to keep our eyes open as long as it fits within strategy. We will not close our eyes.”

He would not comment on the potential for large acquisitions, such as of Biffa or other large waste companies, and said: “When there is talk of a waste management business for sale, any major waste management company such as ours will automatically be rumoured to be interested.”

On the local authority side, PFI and other contract successes remain important. He believes that long planning processes can cause problems but understands the need for competitive dialogue, which he considers essential.

Worldwide

The future waste management horizons for the UK are certain to draw on more ideas and input from around the world.

With its wide breadth of activities worldwide, Veolia looks to be well placed to continue to offer infrastructure and services drawing on its experiences and technological research, something which Mr Mallet is keen to continue and develop further. He said he believes the timing is right “because the government is pushing the development of infrastructure.”

He said: “My welcome to the UK has been impressive, everyone has been quite open. The pace in the UK is very exciting and this is the second largest country for us in terms of turnover.”