SUEZ environnement unifies its brands

French-based utility company SUEZ environnement has announced that it will be unifying its 40 different brands - among them SITA Australia, Degrémont Australia and Process Group - in order to speed up the company’s development and address the issues of resources.

The company employs more than 80,000 people worldwide and provides solutions in the drinking water, wastewater treatment and waste management fields. The change to the single SUEZ environnement brand aimed to achieve three major goals: to simplify a multibrand architecture for improved performance and commercial efficiency; to meet the new needs of customers as they face new environmental and societal challenges; and to reinforce the convergence between the group’s activities so that the company can address the challenges of a circular economy.

While the group has, until now, been organised around two major activities - water and waste - the company has repositioned itself to focus on the sustainable management of resources through four main activities: the management of the extended water cycle; the recycling and re-use of waste; water treatment solutions; and consulting services for sustainable urban and regional development. The change to a single brand is intended to support this strategy.

“The resource revolution will bring about a major and deep-seated transformation of our societies, much like the industrial or digital revolutions,” said SUEZ environnement CEO Jean Louis Chaussade. “So the group must be ready to meet its customers’ future needs and converge its activities in order to anticipate and support these changes.”

SUEZ environnement’s operations in Australia will become the largest within the group’s international division, with almost $1.5 billion in revenues and more than 160 sites across Australia and New Zealand. The water business will continue to be managed nationally by Roch Cheroux as executive director - water and treatment solutions.

Eric Gernath has meanwhile been appointed CEO of SUEZ environnement’s Australian business unit, after serving as managing director of SITA Australia for the last eight years. According to Gernath, the company’s Australian customers are “looking for global and innovative solutions” to meet the challenges arising from an increasing scarcity of our natural resources.

“Whether it’s delivering safe, clean and reliable drinking water or integrating secondary raw materials into production chains, the new structure for the group in Australia will enable us to better respond to the changing needs of our customers,” he said.

“As SUEZ environnement, we will provide seamless solutions across the water and waste sectors. We will also draw upon our extensive global expertise and knowledge to explore opportunities to bring new innovations and technology to Australia.”