The Bundeskartellamt has cleared the formation of the joint venture REKS GmbH & Co. KG by Kali und Salz Minerals and Agriculture GmbH and REMEX GmbH, a member of the Remondis Group (Rethmann Group). In the future the joint venture REKS will distribute hazardous waste for underground disposal and backfilling at Kali und Salz’s mining sites. In order to dispel competition concerns expressed by the Bundeskartellamt, the companies first implemented extensive offsetting measures.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: “This joint venture affects the strategically important end of the recycling chain in waste management. There are only limited capacities for the underground disposal of hazardous waste while the demand for underground disposal will remain high or even increase in the future. On this market Kali und Salz is the clear market leader in Germany and establishing the joint venture would expand this position. The strong market position held by Remondis on the upstream markets also raised competition concerns. We were able to clear the merger project only after Remex had sold its share in the competitor Minex during the ongoing proceeding.”

Operators of waste disposal sites and backfill facilities that can deposit or utilise such waste offer disposal options for hazardous waste. Such services are used especially by waste incineration plants and substitute fuel power plants which have to dispose of the residual material resulting from the incineration (referred to as hazardous fly ashes). Due to the level of contaminants, it is prohibited in Germany to deposit such waste above ground, which is why it is stored underground or – after having been processed – is used to fill caverns. In Germany there are seven providers operating a total of 14 underground disposal facilities on this market.

Kali und Salz runs two underground disposal sites and four underground backfill facilities in Saxony-Anhalt, Hesse, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. The underground caverns created by the mining of salt or potash salt are subsequently refilled; non-mining materials, such as hazardous waste, are also used for this purpose.

REMEX is active in the areas of mineral waste management and in this context also deals in hazardous fly ashes.

In the future the joint venture REKS will provide distribution services for Kali und Salz sites by receiving waste from customers and carrying out the technical procedures before handing the waste over to Kali und Salz. Kali und Salz, which will still run the mines, will then be responsible for underground disposal and backfilling.

In order to dispel the Bundeskartellamt’s competition concerns, REMEX sold its share in the company Minex, which operates an underground backfill facility in Staßfurt. The parties are therefore no longer competitors on the relevant market for underground backfilling with flue gas residues. During the ongoing merger control proceeding, the parties also agreed on further contractual arrangements which are able to additionally stimulate competition. The waste incineration plant in Staßfurt which belongs to the RETHMANN Group will in the future channel its waste flows through Minex and not the joint venture REKS. Kali und Salz will continue to offer intermediaries of hazardous fly ashesdisposal capacities in its sites for ten years so that distributors will still be able to deliver their waste to these sites in the future. Lastly, for a period of 15 years Kali und Salz will accept waste from waste producers in the event of short-term unscheduled disruptions to alternative disposal channels (so-called redundancy commitment). Further details are now available on the website www.kpluss.com.

Clearance under competition law is granted after intensive examinations in the first phase of merger control. The merger was first examined by the European Commission and then referred to the Bundeskartellamt upon request by the Federal Republic of Germany.