Circular Economy and Resource Recovery

French infrastructure companies pioneered treating waste as resource. Veolia's SIAAP facility in Paris recovers phosphorus from sewage for fertilizer. Biogas from treatment plants powers city buses. Heat from sewer water warms buildings. These circular economy approaches transform treatment plants from cost centers to resource recovery facilities.

Innovation extends to industrial water. In water-stressed regions, French companies developed zero liquid discharge systems, recovering and reusing every drop. Membrane bioreactors, combining biological treatment with ultrafiltration, produce water clean enough for industrial reuse. These technologies, expensive but essential where water is scarce, demonstrate infrastructure innovation driven by resource constraints.