Originally published Ingenium Absorbed in Global Expansion on by https://www.sdbj.com/industrial/ingenium-absorbed-in-global-expansion/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ingenium-absorbed-in-global-expansion at San Diego Business Journal
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ESCONDIDO – San Diego County-based hazardous waste management company Ingenium has been acquired by France-based Veolia Group, as part of U.S. expansion centering on the nation’s major biotech life-science hubs in San Diego and Massachusetts.
Veolia is doubling the size of its North American waste management portfolio, officials recently announced, through acquisitions, investment and capacity expansion. They announced $350 million in investments that include three new acquisitions in hazardous waste treatment near Boston and San Diego.
Bob Cappadona, President and CEO of Veolia’s North American Environmental Solutions and Services business said of the expansion plan: “Our team is proud to be at the forefront of Veolia’s plans to lead the hazardous waste industry, by investing in growth, expanded capacity and new environmental technologies. The teams at Ingenium and New England Disposal Technologies and New England MedWaste are outstanding performers.”
In California, Veolia acquired Ingenium, a leading waste management service firm headquartered in Escondido; it specializes in packaging, transportation, recycling and disposal of hazardous, non-hazardous, biological, universal and radioactive waste. The move builds on a prior strategic partnership between the two companies, officials said, to lock in guaranteed high-temperature treatment capacity for customers at Veolia incinerators.
Ingenium, which is Latin for engineer, built its reputation on sustainability, innovation and accountability since opening in 2006, and building its network nationwide, with Western-state operations in Oregon, Washington and Texas. Their customer base spans multiple industries, including biopharmaceutical, aerospace, chemical, education, general manufacturing, and healthcare. Local officials deferred comment on the acquisition to Veolia.
Veolia’s acquisition of Ingenium comes closely on the heels of a partnership agreement between the two companies in May that gave Ingenium access to Veolia’s new high-temperature treatment facility in Gum Springs, Arkansas that is slated to open later this year.
Ingenium CEO Heather Johnson at the time described the strategic partnership as “a significant step forward” for her company.
“Securing guaranteed access to Veolia’s state-of-the-art facilities, particularly the new Gum Springs location, ensures we can meet the demand for hazardous waste treatment while upholding our dedication to innovation and integrity,” she said.
‘Significant Investment’ in California
Veolia plans no facility expansion in California, Cappadona said, “The acquisitions is people, trucks, service centers, and integration into our network.”
California still can expect what he termed “significant investment” in expanding service resources and facilities from a logistical standpoint. Like airline consolidation, the goal is to widen routes on the same haz-mat carrier rather than having tangled crisscross of competing companies duplicating work.
“We had permitted fixed asset facilities in California and around the country, we can utilize our facility network, consolidate networks, so in the end that means less (haz-mat-carrier) trucks on the road,” Cappadona said.
For Ingenium expansion has been ongoing, with 2022 bringing major growth in revenue, employee ranks, new markets and new services. They moved into transporting bulk materials for disposal and added a new industrial services division that expanded the company’s Southern California fleet, beefing up the transportation side of waste removal and partners with disposal companies that operate landfills, incinerators, waste treatment and recycling facilities.
Cappadona noted that Ingenium, like Veolia, takes great pride in their accountability track record. With this acquisition partnership, he said, “We feel we have better control of our own destiny and we have control of our integrity.”
Veolia’s California acquisition achieves the dual goal of offering sustainable recycling methods to an otherwise traditional hazardous waste environment along with a commitment to be a trusted partner to our clients, Cappadona said, and entrenches Veolia deeply into the West Coast and the major market of Texas, which also has the advantage of closer proximity to the company’s expanding incinerator operations in both Texas and the South.
Veolia also owns 49 transport and transfer platforms in 29 states as well as major facilities for recycling e-waste and liquid hazardous waste, aimed at meeting the growing needs of local industrial players.
Reshoring Expected to Drive Growth
Estelle Brachlianoff, CEO of Veolia said this week during a major public event in France focused on hazardous waste that, “Hazardous waste treatment is becoming a strategic bottleneck for many industries, especially those undergoing transformation or reshoring production, it’s also an essential topic for human health and ensuring environmental security. “
“As reshoring drives the growth of U.S. manufacturing industries and medical technologies continue to advance, hazardous waste treatment and disposal capacity must anticipate this demand. Veolia’s global leadership in hazardous waste management allows the company to meet these needs, ensure environmental security for communities, and provide safe, proven solutions for industrial hazardous waste,” according to a statement by Veolia, a company whose roots date to the Napoleonic era.
Cappadona also emphasized that Ingenium and other companies in the ESH portfolio are aligned with Veolia’s GreenUp sustainability initiative, saying, “Together we are positioned to make a real difference for the industry and the planet.”
One area Ingenium has shined is helping biotech and pharma businesses reuse chemicals, and establishing a zero-waste certification program, Destination Zero. Adoption of zero-waste goals and sustainable disposal practices also comes from investors and regulators who Ingenium officials said were increasingly pushing for them. In 2021, Ingenium acquired consulting services company WSR that expanded its compliance and ESH consulting services.
The sustainability efforts have distinguished Ingenium, nearing its 20th year of operation, and Veolia, a company that operates on the long-view and proudly traces its foundations back to the Napoleonic era.
Veolia Group
FOUNDED: 1853
CEO: Estelle Brachlianoff
Headquarters: Aubervilliers, France
Business: waste management
Revenue: €44.7 billion (@$54.7 billion)
Employees: 220,000 in 56 countries
Notable: Provided 79 million inhabitants with drinking water and 61 million with sanitation, produced nearly 48 million megawatt hours and recovered 48 million tonnes of waste in 2021.
Ingenium
FOUNDED: 2006
CEO: Heather Johnson
Headquarters: Escondido
Business: waste management
Revenue: $30 million (2021)
Employees: 125+
Website: www.pureingenium.com
Notable: Regularly featured in San Diego Business Journal’s list of Top 100 Fastest Growing Private Companies.
LISA PETRILLO
Originally published San Diego Business Journal
