Germany: Bundeskartellamt to prohibit proposed Remondis and DSD merger

On April 15, the Bundeskartellamt informed Remondis and DSD – Duales System Holding that, based on the results of its investigations so far, it intends to prohibit the proposed merger between the two companies. Remondis and DSD now have two weeks’ time to comment on the Bundeskartellamt’s draft decision in the matter.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt said: “According to our preliminary assessment Remondis’ acquisition of DSD would impede competition between the dual systems for packaging recycling in Germany. This would lead to higher costs for DSD’s competitors, significant market share gains for DSD and finally higher prices on the market for dual systems.”

Remondis is Germany’s largest waste management company and is active on nearly all waste management markets in the country. These include the collection, sorting and reprocessing of sales packaging, and its subsequent marketing or recycling.

DSD is the largest dual system for packaging recycling in Germany. The dual systems organize packaging recycling on behalf of manufacturers, importers, or retailers (distributors) against the payment of a fee. Dual systems such as DSD then commission the actual waste management companies like Remondis with the collection, sorting, and reprocessing of the packaging waste.