Veolia boosts its presence in Germany’s paper recycling sector

The Veolia Holding Deutschland GmbH operating unit of Paris-based Veolia has announced two transactions in Germany that will see it buy out its joint venture (JV) partners at two different recovered paper sorting plants in Germany.

In the first transaction, Veolia and Augsburg, Germany-based UPM Communication Papers have signed an agreement for UPM to sell its 50 percent JV stake in a paper sorting plant to Rowe GmbH of Nürnberg, Germany.

Rowe is part of the Holding Deutschland GmbH business unit of Veolia, which operates some of its assets as Veolia Umweltservice Group, while UPM Communication Paper is part of the larger Finland-based conglomerate UPM.

The recovered paper sorting plant ASD Altpapier Sortierung Dachau GmbH in Germany (ASD) now will be owned entirely by Rowe, a specialist for paper for recycling (PfR) and certified as a specialist disposal company that has been collecting, transporting sorting and trading PfR for more than 50 years.

According to UPM, the parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price and the transaction will have no impact on the employees of ASD.

“We are pleased to sell ASD sorting operations to Rowe as they have long-term orientation to recovered paper life cycle management,” says Teija Konttori, director of fiber sourcing at UPM.

“Rowe, as part of Veolia, has a high level of expertise in collecting, sorting and handling recovered paper. In the recovered paper supply market, there [is] still plenty of room for development and optimization, and ASD together with Rowe and Veolia is in a great position to capture this market opportunity.”

UPM Communication Papers says it is one of the world’s largest users of recovered paper for graphic paper production. The UPM business unit operates 11 mills, including four in Germany, while five of the others are in Finland, with the other two located in Scotland and in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.

“We thank UPM for the trusting cooperation in recent years and are very pleased with the acquisition of the shares,” says Guido Adomßent, chief operating officer of Veolia Umweltservice of Germany. “We will build on this successful partnership also after the full acquisition of ASD.”

In the other transaction, Veolia will acquire the 51 percent remaining stake in Fels Recycling GmbH in Wolfsburg-Fallersleben, Germany, that has been owned by James Hardie Europe GmbH. Post transaction, Fels Recycling will be 100 percent owned by Veolia.

“We are delighted to be able to fully integrate Fels Recycling GmbH into the Veolia Umweltservice Group,” says Jeff Lippert, managing director of Veolia Umweltservice Nord. “The site is strategically very important for us due to its location, as it is in one of our core areas.”

Fels Recycling is approved under the Federal Emission Control Act to handle discarded materials. The company and its 12 employees specialize in the collection, treatment and recycling of waste and uses various vehicles and container systems for this purpose.