The current political climate cannot derail the ongoing global shift toward a low-carbon, high-efficiency economy, which continues to gain momentum, as the sustainability news stories we highlight for you every day continue to prove.

Sustainable waste management specialist Ingenium has partnered with Veolia North America rtnership providing guaranteed access to Veolia’s new high-temperature treatment facility in Gum Springs, Arkansas. Opening in 2025, this state-of-the-art facility will address the growing industry demand for waste treatment capacity. The agreement also ensures Ingenium access to guaranteed capacity at Veolia’s existing thermal, landfill and fuel blending facilities in the US. Veolia’s facility at Gum Springs will set a new industry standard for the safe, efficient and reliable treatment of waste materials, and the agreement with Ingenium – which comes months before the facility opens – will help both companies meet the needs of the market. The agreement takes effect immediately.  As part of Veolia’s GreenUp strategy, and in alignment with both companies’ sustainability goals, Veolia’s new facility will employ advanced operational and power generation technology, including waste heat recovery.

Paris 2024 Olympic venues transformed into public green spaces

A year on, the legacy of Paris 2024 continues to take shape, with the reopening of Élancourt Hill and the expansion of Parc Georges-Valbon – both important elements of the Games’ long-term ambition to serve communities well beyond the Closing Ceremony. Élancourt Hill, at 231 metres above sea level, is the highest natural point in the Paris region. Until recently, few locals had ever been to the top. Once a sandstone quarry, later a landfill and eventually rehabilitated in the 1980s, the site remained fenced off for decades — inaccessible and forgotten. For the Games, the hill was transformed into the Olympic mountain bike venue. Riders tackled a technical course designed to take advantage of its steep inclines and dramatic views. Reopened to the public in May 2025, Élancourt Hill is no longer just a venue. It’s a 52-hectare public space, with mountain bike trails of varying difficulty, walking paths, a free-access pumptrack, picnic areas and panoramic viewpoints. For a department like Yvelines, with fewer major urban parks than central Paris, this is an important boost to the quality of life of its residents.

Further east, in the heart of Seine-Saint-Denis, Parc Georges-Valbon is undergoing its own transformation. At over 400 hectares, it’s one of the largest urban parks in Europe — but until now, parts of it were disconnected or underused. A 13-hectare patch of land on its northern edge, known as the Terrain des Essences, was previously a military fuel depot, closed off and heavily contaminated. That land has been cleaned up, restored and integrated into the park. The new section, with natural habitats, walking paths and biodiversity zones, not only expands the park, but also improves its accessibility, thanks to new mobility links. During the Games, Parc Georges-Valbon served as one of Paris 2024’s official fan zones, drawing tens of thousands for concerts, community events and big-screen Olympic broadcasts. Its expansion now cements it as a permanent green refuge in one of France’s most densely populated and least green departments.