SUEZ and INRAE Renew Longstanding Scientific Partnership to Accelerate Innovation in Water Resources and Environmental Sustainability

SUEZ and INRAE Renew Longstanding Scientific Partnership to Accelerate Innovation in Water Resources and Environmental Sustainability

(IN BRIEF) INRAE and SUEZ have renewed their long-standing research partnership for another five years to advance scientific innovation in water management, environmental protection, and climate resilience. The collaboration, which has lasted more than three decades, has already produced significant outcomes including patent families, doctoral research projects, scientific publications, and international conferences. The renewed agreement focuses on three strategic areas: circular economy and bioeconomy solutions for resource recovery, climate adaptation and water infrastructure resilience, and the protection of natural resources and public health through improved pollution monitoring and water reuse technologies. The partnership will expand shared research platforms, strengthen researcher mobility, and broaden collaboration across the innovation ecosystem. Through these efforts, both organizations aim to accelerate the translation of scientific research into industrial solutions that support sustainable development and environmental transition.

(PRESS RELEASE) PARIS, 10-Mar-2026 — /EuropaWire/ — INRAE and SUEZ have renewed their long-standing research partnership to continue advancing scientific innovation in the fields of water management, natural resources, and climate resilience. The renewed agreement extends a collaboration that has spanned more than three decades and has produced numerous scientific and technological outcomes, including multiple patents, doctoral research projects, academic publications, and international conferences.

Over the past 30 years, the two organizations have worked closely to transform scientific research into practical solutions that support communities, public authorities, industry, and agriculture. Their collaboration has resulted in ten patent families, eight doctoral theses, 35 scientific publications, and participation in more than fifteen national and international conferences focused on environmental innovation and resource management.

The partnership is built around a shared vision that scientific research should play a central role in driving industrial innovation across the water and waste sectors. As climate change, biodiversity loss, and growing pressure on natural resources reshape global environmental challenges, both institutions aim to strengthen their research efforts to develop solutions that address these issues.

Joint research initiatives focus on three main areas. The first centers on circular economy and bioeconomy strategies aimed at recovering resources from waste streams and creating low-carbon value chains that support agriculture, food production, and renewable energy systems. The second focuses on climate adaptation and resilience, including improving the management of water resources and infrastructure in order to address climate risks and increasing water scarcity. The third area targets the protection of natural resources and public health through improved detection, monitoring, and treatment of pollutants, alongside efforts to promote water reuse and safeguard biodiversity and soil health.

The new five-year agreement strengthens this shared agenda and aims to further accelerate the development and deployment of innovations. As part of the renewed collaboration, the partners plan to expand shared research platforms and implement full-scale demonstrators across both SUEZ and INRAE sites. They will also promote greater mobility of researchers and technical experts through doctoral projects, joint training programs, and temporary exchanges between teams.

Another objective of the partnership is to broaden the innovation ecosystem surrounding the collaboration. This includes launching targeted calls for research proposals, strengthening place-based partnerships with regional stakeholders, and increasing participation in European research initiatives.

Since the early 1990s, the joint research programs between SUEZ and INRAE have already delivered a number of technological advances that support the ecological transition of territories. Among these achievements are innovations in anaerobic digestion technologies designed to process organic matter more efficiently. These solutions have helped reduce the size of digestion infrastructure by up to 35 percent while improving operational safety and enabling more reliable energy recovery from wastewater and organic waste treatment.

The collaboration has also supported several co-supervised doctoral research projects exploring more sustainable wastewater treatment processes, improved forecasting of water resources under climate change scenarios, and new methods for recovering value from organic waste streams.

Xavier Girre, Chief Executive Officer of SUEZ, emphasized that science has long been central to the company’s strategy for environmental innovation. He noted that the partnership with INRAE demonstrates how collaboration between industry and academic research institutions can accelerate the development of solutions that protect water resources, support environmental sustainability, and contribute to regional development.

Philippe Mauguin, Chairman and CEO of INRAE, welcomed the renewal of the partnership and highlighted the progress achieved during the previous collaboration cycle. He stated that the renewed agreement reflects a shared ambition to advance research programs focused on developing efficient, resource-saving treatment technologies that support sustainable agriculture, environmental protection, and the broader bioeconomy.

Innovation remains a core pillar of SUEZ’s long-term strategy. With a history spanning more than 160 years, the company has built extensive research capabilities supported by 400 researchers and 1,300 experts across ten research and innovation centers in France and China. SUEZ holds a portfolio of more than 1,800 patents and continues to invest in developing new technologies in water and waste management.

INRAE, one of Europe’s leading research institutes for agriculture, environment, and food systems, also maintains a strong focus on partnerships and innovation. The institute collaborates with hundreds of socio-economic stakeholders each year and supports the development of new technologies and start-ups. Since 2000, research conducted at INRAE has contributed to the creation of more than 300 start-ups, many of which have emerged directly from its scientific programs.

About INRAE:

INRAE, France’s National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment, is a leading force in research and innovation. It brings together a community of over 10,000 people—8,000 permanent staff and nearly 2,500 project-funded contract staff each year—working across 270 research, service and experimental units in 18 centres throughout France.

A mission-oriented institute, INRAE ranks among the world’s foremost research organisations in agricultural and food sciences, plant and animal sciences, and ecology and environmental sciences. It is Europe’s leading institute and the second-ranked research organisation worldwide specialising across the entire agriculture–food–environment continuum.

INRAE’s ambition is to be a key driver of the transitions required to address major global challenges.

In response to population growth and the challenge of food security, climate change, resource scarcity and biodiversity loss, the institute plays a pivotal role in co-developing sustainable solutions with its research and development partners, helping farmers and all stakeholders across the food and forestry sectors to succeed in these transitions.

About SUEZ:

Faced with growing environmental challenges, SUEZ has been delivering essential services that protect and improve our quality of life for more than 160 years. SUEZ provides its customers with innovative and resilient solutions for water and waste services. With 40 000 employees across 40 countries, the Group works with customers to create value over the full lifecycle of their assets and services, and to drive their low carbon transition. In 2024, SUEZ provided drinking water for 68 million people worldwide and sanitation services for 44 million people. The Group generated 8 TWh of energy from waste and wastewater. In 2024, SUEZ has generated revenues of 9.2 billion euros.

For more information: www.suez.com

Media Contacts:

SUEZ 
Email: suez.media@suez.com
Tel: +33 6 32 18 39 54

INRAE 
Email: presse@inrae.fr
Tel: +33 1 42 75 91 86

SOURCE: SUEZ