Keolis: Group-wide waste management strategy

July 31, 2024

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Context & Challenges

Keolis, a global leader in shared mobility operating around 150 subsidiaries in France and abroad, wanted to strengthen its environmental performance by improving the management of solid waste streams. The challenge was to address a wide variety of waste types (ordinary industrial waste, hazardous waste, specific fractions) across a decentralized and complex organization. The group’s ambition was to align local practices with regulatory requirements while building a coherent group-wide waste management strategy that could generate operational savings and enhance sustainability reporting.

  • Sector: Transport & Mobility

  • Activity: Public transport operator (buses, trains, trams, shared mobility)

  • Number of employees: ~68,000 worldwide

  • Revenues: ~€6.7 bn (2023)

Approach & Methodology

The Needl expert designed a structured mission in four steps:

Diagnosis

Step 1

Assessment of current practices across subsidiaries, including volumes, costs, and compliance risks

Benchmark

Step 2

Comparison with industry peers and identification of best practices in public transport and other sectors

Roadmap design

Step 3

Definition of a group-wide waste management strategy, including targets, standardized procedures, and operational guidelines

Action plan

Step 4

Prioritization of actions at both group and subsidiary level, with measurable KPIs and a timeline for implementation

Key Success Factors


  • Strong sector knowledge and experience in waste management

  • Methodological rigor combining diagnosis, benchmarking, and operational recommendations

  • Collaboration with both group-level sustainability teams and local subsidiaries, ensuring ownership of the results

Results & Impacts


  • Delivered a comprehensive diagnostic of waste management practices across Keolis subsidiaries

  • Identified opportunities to reduce costs through harmonization of contracts and improved waste sorting

  • Clarified compliance risks and proposed measures to ensure regulatory conformity

  • Developed a practical roadmap aligning subsidiaries with the group’s sustainability objectives

  • Enhanced the group’s capacity to report on waste management as part of its ESG commitments