Aguas de Portugal
Leading group operating in the environmental sector in Portugal and our mission is to contribute to the pursuit of national objectives in the water supply, wastewater sanitation and treatment and recovery of waste, within a framework of economic, financial, technical, social and environmental sustainability. In water supply and wastewater sanitation, the AdP Group operations comprise the urban water cycle, integrating the water collection, treatment, storage and supply and urban and industrial wastewater collection, treatment and disposal, including its recycling and reuse
Company details
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- Business Type:
- Service provider
- Industry Type:
- Water and Wastewater
- Market Focus:
- Globally (various continents)
About Us
We are a leading group operating in the environmental sector in Portugal and our mission is to contribute to the pursuit of national objectives in the water supply, wastewater sanitation and treatment and recovery of waste, within a framework of economic, financial, technical, social and environmental sustainability.
Our goal is to protect and value the natural and human environment: the activities of our companies include water collection, treatment, storage and supply while following the highest of quality patterns; collection, treatment and disposal of urban and industrial wastewater, including its recycling and reuse in an environmental safe manner; and waste treatment and recovery.
Sustainable use and preservation of natural resources, equilibrium and improvement of the quality of the environment, equity in access to public services and the promotion of well-being and people’s standards of living are fundamental values to AdP Group.
History
Águas de Portugal (AdP) was established in 1993, in accordance with private commercial law, with public shareholders, focusing on developing multi-municipal systems for water supply and wastewater treatment with the aim of overcoming the fragmentation that characterized these sectors, a necessary condition for reaching its intended goal.
Up until then, there had been just one case of integration of operations for several administrative divisions. It was EPAL, the company that at the time supplied water to some 20 municipalities of the Greater Lisbon area, and now integrates AdP Group as one of its business units.
In 2000, all Portuguese government owned environmental subsidiaries were integrated into AdP Group, namely EGF and all its waste companies, creating a new business unit. As sector fragmentation was overcome, AdP coordinated activities within its subsidiaries to bring about progress towards the national objectives.
More recently, it became clear that the multi-municipal business model needed to be improved. Consequently, a new business approach has been defined and legally approved in the form of a partnership agreement between the State and local authorities. In 2009 two new AdP companies were created with this new legal instrument.
AdP Group currently incorporates more than 40 companies operating in the areas of urban water, wastewater and solid waste services. To support these activities, AdP has a shared services company for areas such as procurement and engineering, and an information services company that develops and implements technical solutions suited to the users’ needs. All the knowhow the Group has accumulated is being shared abroad through an international business unit.
Pursuing a structural role in the Environmental sector, the AdP Group largely contributes to achieve the operational goals set out in the Country’s strategic plans, which are, in the water supply and wastewater sanitation domains, to serve 95% of the Portuguese total population with public water supply systems and 90% with public urban wastewater sanitation systems, and, in the treatment and recovery of waste, to apply a new model for a sustainable management of waste, that discourage landfills deposits and increases the selective collection of packaging materials and biodegradable urban waste.
Mission and Strategy
Mission
AdP - Águas de Portugal, SGPS, S.A. is a pure holding company that, through its subsidiaries, has as its mission the design, construction, operation and management of water supply systems, wastewater sanitation and solid domestic and industrial waste treatment and recovery systems within a framework of economic, financial, technical, social and environmental sustainability. Its mission is also to develop a strong and highly competent Portuguese industrial group, capable of responding effectively to the important challenges that currently exist in the environmental sector.
Strategy
The strategic positioning of the AdP Group is determined by government policies for the sector, which are set out in the strategic plans applicable to the group’s operations, in general guidelines that take the form of ministerial orders and in specific guidelines from the shareholder.
In compliance with its mission, and in alignment with its strategic positioning, AdP operates in the water supply, wastewater treatment and solid waste treatment and recovery sectors through the ownership and management of a portfolio of shareholdings. Most of these are concessionary companies operating multimunicipal systems that are owned in partnership with the municipalities concerned in accordance with the legal framework, specifically Decree Law no. 379/93, of 5 November, and Decree Law no. 195/2009, of 20 August, and are designed to enhance compliance with the objectives set down in the Water Supply and Wastewater Sanitation Strategic Plan for the period 2007-2013 (PEAASAR II) and the Strategic Plan for Municipal Solid Waste for the period 2007-2016 (PERSU II).
Within the framework of implementing these sector plans, and in accordance with the new management model established by Decree Law no. 90/2009, of 9 April, that establishes a partnership regime between the state and local government for the management and operation of public water supply, urban wastewater sanitation and urban solid waste systems, the AdP Group holds stakes in two public-public management company partnerships for the operation and management of water supply and urban wastewater sanitation services.
Within the field of water supply, the stake held in EPAL - Empresa Portuguesa das Águas Livres, S.A. is of particular relevance given the contribution made in terms of the group’s technical and financial capacities. Another strategy of the AdP Group is to implement solutions for treating pig farming effluents, with a view to resolving serious environmental problems related to this activity and thus contributing to meeting the goals of Portugal’s National Strategy for Agricultural and Agro-Industrial Effluents (ENEAPAI).
In the waste area, the AdP Group’s priority is to contribute to implementing Portuguese and EU strategies and achieving the respective objectives for the sector, particularly with regard to increasing the selective collection of multi-material packaging and diverting biodegradable urban waste away from disposal in sanitary landfills, as envisaged in the 2007-2016 Strategic Plan for Municipal Solid Waste (PERSU II), and defining goals and targets for complying with the EU landfill and packaging directives.
With the aim of maximising the use of endogenous assets and resources, namely the by-products of water and waste treatment processes, and contributing to sustainable development through the rationalisation of energy consumption and the reduction or offsetting of greenhouse gases, the AdP Group is developing a diverse range of renewable energy projects.
The group’s international operations in Mozambique and Angola are a means of capitalising on skills and capacities developed in Portugal, contributing to the development of the water and waste sectors in these countries.
Through its shared services unit, the group aims to foster concerted access to the markets, integrate resources and propagate accumulated experienc es throughout the group.
By contributing to the management of the country’s available resources, the implementation of government policies and the achievement of national objectives in the environmental area, the AdP Group plays a structural role in the sector.
The nature, size and execution period of the capital-intensive projects with long-term returns in which the AdP Group is involved present a particularly demanding, but critically important, challenge in terms of the structural role these projects play at a national level and in the management of the country’s available resources.
AdP’s future development rests on the growth and profitability of its businesses, a balanced portfolio of assets and an effective group structure that capitalises on synergies resulting from the integrated management of resources, experience and accumulated know-how.
Sustainability
The AdP Group’s Sustainability Strategy, as well as the structure of its annual performance reports, is based on the concept of symbiosis.
SYMBIOSIS with the ENVIRONMENT
Contributing to the protection of the environment, reconciling urban water and waste processes with the cycles of nature, managing and protecting resources, integrating best practices and creating the potential for new activities.
SYMBIOSIS with SHAREHOLDERS
Guaranteeing the economic sustainability of the Group and creating value for shareholders and other stakeholders, ensuring the development of our business and meeting targets.
SYMBIOSIS with EMPLOYEES
Valuing human capital as a leading success factor that is vital to maintaining excellent services, viewing the main challenges as equality of opportunity, performance assessment, training, skill development and workplace hygiene, health and safety.
SYMBIOSIS with the COMMUNITY
Guaranteeing a high quality public service that is increasingly broad in its reach, investing in our relationship with stakeholders, local communities and suppliers and in research.
