Good interaction among businesses, universities, municipalities, state administrations and non-governmental organizations is a key factor for implementing adequate measures for environmental protection. This opinion was reached by the participants in a round table organized by Sofiyska Voda, part of Veolia, about the climate conference COP 21 and the fight against climate change.
‘All people are responsible for protecting our planet and can contribute to sustainable development and protection of natural resources. This is one of the key principles in Veolia’s policy worldwide, which is also practically applied by Sofiyska Voda,’ said Arnaud Valleteau, Deputy Executive Director of Sofiyska Voda
‘Veolia has made three commitments to work in order to resource the planet. The first one is to sustainably manage natural resources by promoting circular economy. The second one is to actively contribute to the fight against climate change, and the third one – to protect and restore biodiversity,’ emphasized Valleteau.
‘The wastewater treatment plant in Kubratovo is a real example of circular economy in Bulgaria,’ said Stanislav Stanev, Operations and Maintenance Director at Sofiyska Voda. ‘Thanks to the functioning co-generation, the treatment plant is energy independent and ensures by itself the energy resources required for its work. The plant has been working for 30 years now and for this time it has returned over 4.2 billion cubic meters of treated wastewater to nature. This volume is eight times higher than the volume of Iskar Dam,’ Stanev explained.
‘We work together with Sofiyska Voda on many projects related to the environmental protection’ said Prof. Yana Topalova from the Faculty of Biology at the Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski. Her students presented a project for calculating the carbon footprint of the plant, prepared with the assistance of the Company.
Eng. Todor Nikolov, the Executive Director of Veolia Energy Services Varna, presented an innovative project, an example for the impact of the circular economy on the quality of life in the urban environment, which will save carbon emissions and it is possible to become a pilot one for the modern urbanist and environmental urban solutions. The project Green Troshevo in the sea capital is a good example of cooperation between the energy district heating company, the local authorities and a university.
The presentation of the work of the newly-constructed Sofia plant for waste treatment provoked a great interest. The director - engineer Nikolay Savov - explained that the plant functioned as per a phased load schedule.
The round table was attended by distinguished economists, students from the University of World Economy, Sofia University, New Bulgarian University, the Technical University in Sofia, etc. The initiative is thematically related to the ongoing international conference of the UN in Paris concerning global climate change (COP 21).