CircularChain, the circular economy blockchain

To support regions in their environmental transition and help industrial companies make their road maps a reality, SUEZ draws on smart digital solutions such as its development of CircularChain, the circular economy blockchain.
Our clients
Municipalities & Industrials
Our clients face strong regulatory, financial or image issues, and are concretely committed to preserve the environment and fight against climate change. Trust in sanitary and environmental quality became a crucial aspect of society.
Their needs
To be assured of the compliance of all recycling and processing steps and reassured about the veracity of data, municipalities, industrials and their stakeholders claim a better traceability of materials throughout the recovery cycle.
Priorities
Encouraging the reuse of materials
Providing greater transparency in the monitoring of material flows
Strengthening trust between the stakeholders in the material recovery chain
Our solution

CircularChain, the circular economy blockchain

Functional definition

A blockchain is a decentralised, immutable, secure technology for information storage and transfer that records all the transactions carried out by users since the blockchain was created. It can guarantee and certify any transaction.

Use of blockchain technology

The technology underlying bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, blockchain has been used in the financial sector since 2008. Transparent and impossible to falsify, the technology is also an ideal response to the challenges of traceability, and many industries are already using it for this purpose.


CircularChain, the circular economy blockchain designed by SUEZ, meets the growing need for transparency and trust with regard to the health and environmental quality of secondary raw materials. It is a concrete solution that promotes material reuse and recycling.

Using treatment sludge in agriculture: a first use case

Every year in France, reusing sludge from wastewater treatment by spreading it on agricultural soil avoids the production of 35,000 tonnes of synthetic nitrogen and the mining of 30,000 tonnes of phosphorus. A true virtuous circle, reusing sludge in this way supports agriculture and limits transport and water costs. This reduces the carbon footprint of both water treatment and agriculture and combats the depletion of organic matter in the soil.

Since we are convinced that putting organic matter back in the soil is more virtuous than using exclusively chemicals and mining products, we transform organic waste into agricultural soil amendments.   

Thanks to blockchain, the traceability of the organic matter is now 100% secure, shared and transparent. The first use of blockchain in this sector, the CircularChain solution designed by SUEZ reassures both sludge producers and farmers by offering more control over the traceability of their agricultural recovery channels.

Collecting, storing and retrieving reliable, forgery-proof information using blockchain technology 

Based on a secure information storage and transfer technology, CircularChain records all the steps needed to process wastewater treatment sludge as they occur, from production to final use (spreading on the soil, waste to energy etc.). The technology guarantees total transparency for the sector. The modern, user-friendly interface of the SUEZ SludgeAdvanced portal provides the information to all the players involved.

Thanks to the digitalisation of operational data, sludge producers can independently supervise the recovery process and monitor their sectors dynamically. At the same time, farmers have a tracking and management tool for their agricultural inputs, guaranteeing the quality and quantity of the sludge they spread.  

CircularChain ensures that the information provided is reliable by sharing it within the ecosystem1. The tool provides exemplary traceability and generates trust between all the players in the sector.

Securing the analysis results with blockchain technology is a key means of guaranteeing the compliance of sewage sludge spreading. Our involvement with CircularChain enables us to reassure all stakeholders that our analysis results are reliable. It is a symbol of trust for our customers and the ecosystem.

Hubert Roebroeck , Operational Director at AUREA, an agriscience analysis laboratory and agri-environmental consultancy

Building on the experience gained, CircularChain will host other traceability chains to strengthen trust, a key element of the circular economy.

CircularChain and SludgeAdvanced represent a new stage in SUEZ's pioneering strategy for organic waste management and digitalisation.

infographic circularchain EN

1 Consisting of SUEZ, local authorities and industries that produce sludge, laboratories, transport companies, agricultural contractors, state agencies, water management agencies and possibly processing sites

For more information

Watch a replay of the CircularChain webinar (in french) with Antoine Le Feuvre, CEO Digital Solutions for Citizens, Consumers and Companies at SUEZ Smart & Environmental Solutions, Catherine Chevauché, Climate & Circular Economy Manager at SUEZ Smart & Environmental Solutions, and Sylvain Cariou, President of Crystalchain.

Listen to our podcast Lead the Change, episode 2 ‘The blockchain & the circular economy, with Marc Cheverry, Director of Circular Economy and Waste at ADEME, Antoine Le Feuvre, CEO of Digital Solutions for Citizens, Consumers and Companies at SUEZ, Smart & Environmental Solutions, and Hervé Pillaud, a former farmer and author.

Lead the Change, episode 2 ‘The blockchain & the circular economy

Listen to the podcast
Contact
Logo SUEZ

Julien Klein

Digital Offer Manager julie.klein@suez.com