Lünen, Volkenschwand. REMONDIS, Germany's largest family-run water and recycling company with associated businesses and branches in 34 countries and an annual turnover of €6.8 billion (2012), acquired a 49% share in Högl T. E. O. GmbH at the end of January. Högl T.E.O. GmbH, a family-owned firm based in the Bavarian town of Volkenschwand, primarily focuses on developing and implementing technologies to generate renewable energy from organic materials and other substances. As a result of this transaction, both companies now aim to work together to intensify their activities in the areas of processing biowaste, generating biogas and operating biogas plants in Bavaria. This new associated business is already making an important contribution towards helping the region achieve its planned "energy turnaround", i.e. changing energy supply from fossil fuels to renewables.

Högl T.E.O. GmbH, which employs a total of 30 people, operates a biowaste digester beside its head office in Volkenschwand as well as a digester for hops in Wolnzach. Combined, the two plants have a capacity of around 140,000 tonnes. The input material – primarily municipal and commercial biowaste, leftover foods and out-of-date food as well as shredded hop vines – is used to produce biogas. This, in turn, is transformed into electricity and heat in the adjoining heat and power plant in Volkenschwand. Approx. 75 percent of the electricity, produced from renewable sources, is fed directly into the public grid contributing directly, therefore, to preventing climate change. The residue generated by the digestion process is turned into a high quality organic fertiliser, BIO N, which is subject to the strict quality criteria set out by the independent quality assurance organisation, 'Gütegemeinschaft Gärprodukte e.V.'. The biogas produced from the renewable raw materials at its location in Wolnzach is refined until it has the same quality as natural gas so it can then be fed into the local gas network.

REMONDIS managing director, Frank Gärtner, underlined the importance of this transaction for REMONDIS: "Högl T.E.O. GmbH is an ideal addition to our business activities in a region that can guarantee a steady supply of top quality biomass thanks to its rural structure and the many agricultural and food processing businesses located there. By digesting this material and transforming it into electricity, REMONDIS and Högl are, together, making a valuable contribution towards generating carbon-neutral energy and so preventing climate change." 

The transaction has yet to be approved by the Cartel Office.

Background information

REMONDIS is one of the world's largest privately owned water and recycling companies and provides services to around 30 million people. Via its branches and associated companies, REMONDIS operates in 24 countries in Europe as well as in China, India, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates, Australia and other countries across four continents. Founded in 1934, this family-run business has a workforce of approx. 30,500 employees and an annual turnover of 6.8 billion euros (2012). REMONDIS focuses on developing partnerships to implement novel and forward-looking concepts and ideas in order to help conserve our raw material and water supplies for future generations.

Further information available from: 

REMONDIS AG & Co. KG 

Michael Schneider // Press Officer 

Brunnenstr. 138 // 44536 Lünen 

T +49 2306 106-515 // F +49 2306 106-530 

michael.schneider@remondis.de 

remondis.de