Sustainable incineration and RCRA landfill services in Gum Springs, AR
WE HELP YOU MEET YOUR ESG GOALS
Setting aggressive ESG and emissions reductions goals has become a fact of doing business. You either hit your environmental targets, or you’ll find it difficult to raise capital, customers will work with someone else, and you’ll come under increasing pressure from investors and financial strain.
Veolia conducted a study of 245 companies across the U.S. and found that, among respondents:
• 82% will set net zero carbon goals
• 74% will set zero waste to landfill goals
• 52% don’t have actionable plans with specific initiatives identified to reach their goals
We understand the pressure of improving sustainability, meeting compliance requirements, keeping costs under control, and developing an effective plan to meet your goals. We recognize your challenges, and we have solutions.
WHY VEOLIA?
• $49 billion in revenue
• #480 on the Forbes Global 2,000 list
• Operating in 44 countries
• Over 218,000 employees focused on delivering environmentally sustainable solutions
• Over 170 years of experience
WASTE MANAGED
• Process solids, liquids and sludges
• Agricultural waste
• Laboratory chemicals
• Medical waste
• Controlled substances
• Polychlorinated biphenyls
• Low-level radioactive waste
• Catalysts and reagents
• Household hazardous waste
• Returned goods/off-spec/ out-of-date products
• Cylinders, propellants, explosives and pyrotechnics
• Reclaimable organic solvents
• Non-hazardous
Maximize sustainability and compliance
REDUCING SANOFI’S LANDFILL WASTE BY 2,700 TONS
Veolia partnered with Sanofi, a top producer of vaccines, medicine, and health products, to manage their waste and avoid landfills with recycling, composting, and waste to energy solutions.
• Recycled 2,700 tons of material in a single year
• Saved 37,000 trees, 15 million gallons of water, 440,000 gallons of oil, and over 10,000 yd3 of landfill space
• Working towards 0% waste to landfill while lowering the costs of disposal
WORKING WITH AN INDUSTRIAL COMPANY TO REMOVE A DECOMMISSIONED BUILDING
Veolia developed the entire waste removal process, transporting the hazardous waste to be disposed of in our Gum Springs Landfill through macro encapsulation.
• 30% lower cost by using Veolia’s solution
• 50% reduction in greenhouse emissions
• The job was completed in almost half the estimated time
PARTNERING WITH GE RENEWABLE ENERGY TO RECYCLE WIND TURBINE BLADES
Veolia processes the decommissioned blades to use as a raw material for Portland cement, utilizing a cement kiln co-processing technology.
• 90% of the blade material is reused as a repurposed engineered material
• 27% net reduction in CO₂ emissions compared to traditional cement production
• A single blade avoids the use of 5 tons of coal in cement kilns
STATE-OF-THE-ART FACILITY IN GUM SPRINGS
Financial stability, effective solutions
WHY CHOOSE VEOLIA’S GUM SPRINGS FACILITY
• Advanced technology—New $400 million hazardous waste incinerator with waste heat recovery capability improves sustainability
• One stop shop—With both an incinerator and Subtitle C landfill, a large variety of waste types can be picked up in a single shipment to be sent for appropriate treatment, including both solid and liquid waste.
• Logistics—Our facilities have immediate interstate access for truck shipments and our Arkansas facility is served directly by rail. Our rail accepts gondolas, intermodals, and bulk tankers.
• Easy scheduling—Because of our large capacity, we can receive and process waste from daily plant production and large remediation projects efficiently.
• Types of waste received—Most types of CERCLA and RCRA wastes are accepted.
• Veolia is the world’s largest environmental services company—We own and operate hazardous secure landfills and waste treatment facilities around the world, have the ability to leverage knowledge worldwide, and maintain a strong reputation of excellence.
Veolia operates a centrally located waste treatment complex near Gum Springs, Arkansas, approximately 70 miles southwest of Little Rock. It encompasses a 1500 acre site providing both energy recovery incineration and subtitle C landfill treatment and disposal of RCRA hazardous waste. The single site solution reduces liability and post treatment transportation costs.
Gum Springs is easy to access, served by the Union Pacific railroad for rail shipments and located 4 miles off Interstate 30 for truck shipments.
FACILITY INFORMATION
US EPA ID# ARD006354161
Capacity 100,000 tons/year
Permits
• RCRA
• Arkansas Air Permit
• Arkansas Landfill Permit
• NPDES Discharge Permit
Deliveries accommodated
• Bulk liquids
• Bulk solids
• Consumer packaging
• DEA witness burns
• Drum liquids
• Drum sludges
• Drum solids
SUSTAINABLE INCINERATION
Veolia North America is making a transformative investment in the heart of Arkansas, where a new, state-of-the-art thermal incinerator for the treatment of hazardous waste is under construction in Gum Springs.
Beyond the transformational impact of the new incinerator, the Veolia Gum Springs project is setting a new industry standard for environmental performance and sustainability given Veolia’s unprecedented commitments to make Veolia Gum Springs the greenest project of its kind in the U.S.
Raising the bar for environmental responsibility
Here is how our Gum Springs facility delivers sustainable incineration:
HEAT RECOVERY SYSTEM WITH H050 CAPABILITIES
The facility’s steam turbine generator has a 7.1 MW capacity and provides about 70% of the plant’s expected electricity needs. It eliminates an estimated 18.9 kt of CO₂ emissions per year and increases energy efficiency by utilizing waste heat. And for the first time ever, customers can move the treatment of their waste up the EPA hierarchy from H040, incineration, to H050 energy recovery for waste with >2,000 Btu/lb.
SOLAR PANELS
A 5MWac solar panel installation was completed in 2024 and includes 11,000 solar panels that can produce up to 11,200,000 kWh of electricity annually. This solar array contributes 20% of the plant’s electricity, increasing energy independence and eliminating 5,600 tons of CO₂ emissions a year compared to the Arkansas grid.
SCOPE 2 CARBON EMISSIONS
Compared to relying on the Arkansas grid, our onsite energy sources will eliminate 24.5 kt of CO₂ emissions annually, significantly more than the 7.61 kt we eliminated in 2023 and the 5.06 kt in 2022.
FOREST MANAGEMENT PROJECT
We are completing a 1,000 acre forest management project, including 680 acres for reforestation. The first phase in early 2025 will see 110,000 trees planted on 256 acres, with additional phases planned for 2026 and 2027. All together they will remove an estimated 3.5 t of CO₂ from the atmosphere per acre per year, contributing to long term carbon sequestration, improved water quality, and biodiversity.
BIODIVERSITY INITIATIVES
We are working on several initiatives, including utilizing non-invasive LEKO sensors to detect biodiversity in the environment. We also have partnerships with universities for wildlife inventories and habitat enhancement, and support the No Migration Barriers Policy and Quail Restoration Habitat Project. The benefits of these initiatives are comprehensive ecosystem monitoring, biodiversity conservation, and habitat protection. So far, we have recorded over 45,000 wildlife contacts and identified 23 species.
LANDFILL CAPABILITIES
Reliable, compliant waste solutions
Gum Springs’ fully permitted RCRA Subtitle C landfill is adjacent to the incinerator area. It offers hazardous waste landfill and waste treatment services that include micro and macro encapsulation, stabilization, and other chemical treatments. The landfill consists of two ultra thick synthetic HDPE liners embedded between dense clay liners. A leachate system is installed to collect any liquid that may form when rainfall contacts the waste.
OUR HAZARDOUS WASTE STABILIZATION SERVICES INCLUDE:
• D002 neutralization and nonhazardous waste solidification
• Stabilization of certain D-coded metal-bearing waste types, typically D004 to D011
• Stabilization of other coded hazardous waste, including listed waste and characteristic waste
• Micro- and macro-encapsulation treatment of hazardous waste debris
• Waste profiling, laboratory analysis, and unique treatment methodologies
• Testing stabilized residuals to ensure proper treatment and that all landfill restrictions are met for final disposal
• Chemical oxidation
• Oxidizer deactivation
LANDFILL CAPABILITY
• 5 M yd3 of permitted airspace, over 20 years of capacity
• Leachate generated is treated and disposed onsite
• Landfill infrastructure designed for large volume projects
• Non-haz drums and bulk
• Listed waste meeting LDR drums and bulk
• RCRA empty drums
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Real impact where it matters most
At Veolia, we partner with our customers and communities to address their environmental challenges and help improve their sustainability through innovative solutions in water, waste and energy. Veolia is deeply connected to the cities, towns and neighborhoods where we operate, working with schools, community groups, locally based leaders and advocacy groups to help those in need and serve as a good neighbor.
In Sauget, Illinois, VNA gives environmental education tours to local high schools and colleges, partners with the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Community Center in East St. Louis and volunteers with the St. Louis Habitat for Humanity.
In East Palo Alto, California, VNA collaborates with the city and state on an innovative program designed to bring relief for local water ratepayers who are struggling to keep up with their bills.
Partnering with more than 500 COMMUNITIES across the United States and Canada.
In Connecticut, VNA partners with HarborWatch, a group of scientists who work to preserve the estuaries of Long Island Sound.
In New York City, VNA partners with the New York Department of Sanitation to host a series of household hazardous waste collection events throughout the year, collecting over 1 million pounds of hazardous waste materials over the past decade.
In Gum Springs, Arkansas, VNA recently announced a $5,000 annual scholarship for local high school seniors planning to pursue majors in science, math and engineering to celebrate the new state-of-the-art hazardous waste treatment facility, set to be complete in 2025.
A COMMITMENT TO BIODIVERSITY
Veolia protects and enhances biodiversity across its operating footprint. We have identified dozens of sites throughout the United States that have the potential to support sensitive species or habitats. Veolia performs biodiversity audits at those sites and use that information to develop action plans that help protect and restore the unique variety of animals, plants and microorganisms.