Veolia delivers Belgium’s first advanced water treatment and reuse system at Pfizer facility

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• Veolia partners with Pfizer to deliver Belgium’s first pharmaceutical water treatment system using advanced ozone and membrane technologies, ensuring complete removal of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and up to 90% water recovery  — equivalent to the annual water consumption of almost 14,000 Flanders inhabitants.
   
• The innovative solution supports Pfizer’s compliance with the EU Urban Wastewater Directive and prepares the Puurs facility for Belgium’s 2040 wastewater reuse regulations.

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Veolia, world leader in water technologies, has been selected by Pfizer to implement an innovative water treatment system at its Puurs facility in Belgium. The new solution incorporates ozone technology to ensure complete removal of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) whilst maximizing water reuse. 

Pfizer is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies and consistently ranks among the industry's global leaders. Its plant in Puurs, the world’s largest production facility for injectable medication, currently produces 500 million doses annually, with an expected 50% increase over the next five years.

This latest contract builds upon a successful 2022 collaboration, where Veolia enhanced Pfizer’s water treatment capabilities by implementing a ZeeWeed™ 500 Membrane Bioreactor (MBR), which combines membrane ultrafiltration with biological treatment to boost capacity, improve effluent quality and increase water reuse. 

To support Pfizer in complying with the EU Urban Wastewater Directive, published in late 2024 — which requires pharmaceutical companies to reduce all API substances in their wastewater to below detection limits by 2030 — Veolia proposed an advanced treatment solution. Additionally, the system is designed to align with Belgium’s forthcoming 2040 regulation mandating wastewater reuse,  a requirement in almost all new environmental permits. As a result, the new solution not only ensures stringent API removal but also enables increased water recovery to meet future regulatory demands. 

The solution integrates three Veolia proprietary technologies that work together as a robust triple-barrier system, achieving up to 90% water recovery for Pfizer — equivalent to the annual water consumption of almost 14,000 Flanders inhabitants. At the heart of the solution, the Ozonia™ M system with Intelligent Gap System+ and SmartO3™ Controller uses advanced oxidation to break down and eliminate pharmaceutical compounds. This is followed by the CaptuRO™ high recovery reverse osmosis technology, which removes dissolved salts and purifies the water to exceptional quality standards. The final barrier, the ZeeWeed 1500 ultrafiltration system provides an additional safeguard by removing any remaining suspended solids and microorganisms, ensuring the highest quality water for reuse.

“This is the first installation of its kind for the pharmaceuticals sector in Belgium and we are proud to partner with Pfizer on such a forward-looking project,” said Anne Le Guennec, CEO of Veolia's water technology activities. “Aligned with Veolia’s GreenUp strategy, this combination of advanced water treatment technologies helps manufacturers meet today’s stringent discharge standards, increase water reuse, and future-proof their operations for evolving regulations. We look forward to supporting more facilities as the industry embraces resilient and responsible water management.”

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ABOUT VEOLIA
Veolia group aims to become the benchmark company for ecological transformation. Present on five continents with 215.000 employees, the Group designs and deploys useful, practical solutions for the management of water, waste and energy that are contributing to a radical turnaround of the current situation. Through its three complementary activities, Veolia helps to develop access to resources, to preserve available resources and to renew them. In 2024, the Veolia group provided 111 million inhabitants with drinking water and 98 million with sanitation, produced 42 million megawatt hours of energy and treated 65 million tonnes of waste. Veolia Environnement (Paris Euronext: VIE) achieved consolidated revenue of 44.7 billion euros in 2024. 
www.veolia.com

As the world leader in water technologies and services, Veolia relies on its 17,500 water technology experts to deliver innovative solutions that drive both performance and sustainability, without compromise. With over 4,400 technology patents and serving more than 14,000 customers worldwide, Veolia’s water technology activities generated 4.97 billion euros in revenue in 2024. These solutions are central to Veolia’s GreenUp strategic plan, accelerating the ecological transformation of cities and industries while safeguarding resources for the future. www.veoliawatertechnologies.com