French companies form partnership for a waterborne waste treatment plant

SITA, a subsidiary of water utility firm Suez Environnement has formed a partnership with three French companies to build an innovative pilot waterborne waste treatment plant for the Lyon urban area.

Companies include power firm Compagnie Nationale du Rhône (CNR), river transport operator Compagnie Fluviale de Transport (CFT) and water navigation authority Voies Navigables de France (VNF).

The companies want to form an innovative waterborne waste treatment plant to serve the French city. Partners will contribute their expertise for designing a mobile waterborne waste treatment plant concept for sustainable development.

The project plan aims to attain a circular economy and ensure waste materials are transported according to their types to the appropriate materials, waste to-energy or organic recovery outlets.

Firms will use transportation equipment, powered by green and renewable energy to stress the need for a low-carbon economy.

Urban river logistics will be another focus for the project, which will ensure industrial and port facilities offer proper service for the urban areas, promoting both economic growth and sustainable development.

Planned to be a pilot in France, the facility will be equipped with barge and an environmentally-friendly plunger that runs on electricity and hydrogen from renewable sources.

The mobile plant will be parked in the quays where people can deposit their waste, and the companies plan to introduce an electric delivery tricycle for waste collection from individual apartments.

Waste deposits will be emptied at Edouard Herriot Port every evening, where the plant will be refilled with necessary renewable energy so it can move on to collect wastes from a new site.

SITA will treat the collected waste to recover it as new material, organic or energy resources and the plant will help to relieve road traffic.