Three years later, we won the contract to service the Queen Mary 2 – the world’s largest cruise liner – and the marine pollution facility now serves the 300 + cruise liners visiting the port every year.
In 2001, we signed an on-site contract with pharmaceutical giant, Astra Zeneca, at its Macclesfield site. We also gained a 35 year integrated recycling and waste management contract with Sheffield City Council, which included responsibility for operating their award winning District Energy Network.
A testament to the work of our refuse and street cleaning staff in Westminster came with the title Britain’s Cleanest City in 2003 and we began work on a 25 year integrated waste management contract with East Sussex County and Brighton and Hove City Councils.
The same year we became the refuse, recycling and cleansing contractor for Camden and won a new contract to service the Bullring Shopping Centre and an emergency response contract with Midlands Expressway for the M6 Toll Road.
Our dry salt mine, Minosus, was given the go-ahead to be used as an underground storage facility for hazardous waste in 2004. We took full control in 2006 and the site is now the first facility of its kind for the permanent disposal of a range of solid and granular hazardous wastes.
In 2005, we acquired Shanks’ hazardous waste business for £28 million, foreseeing expansion in the sector following the implementation of new regulations redefining more products as hazardous. We developed compliance schemes for hazardous waste, waste electrical and electronic equipment and packaging waste in line with new legislation and signed major contracts with BP and Shell.
The year closed with a major milestone for the company. We adopted a powerful new brand system in which the four businesses within Veolia Environnement would share the same name: Veolia Environmental Services (formerly Onyx), Veolia Water, Veolia Transport (formerly Connex) and Veolia Energy/Dalkia.