What Knittel does

Knittel is a family-owned, full-service waste management and recycling company headquartered in Vöhringen, Bavaria, Germany, operating under two legal entities (Knittel GmbH Abfallentsorgung and Knittel GmbH Städtereinigung) registered in Memmingen. Founded in 1953 by Josef and Hildegard Knittel and now in its third generation of family leadership under Andreas W. Knittel (who took over from Werner Knittel on 1 September 2022), the company provides integrated collection, transport, processing, and disposal services across three customer segments: private households, municipalities, and industrial/commercial clients. Its service area covers the Neu-Ulm and Alb-Donau-Kreis districts in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, serving approximately 300,000 residents through municipal contracts, with additional presence in Ulm, Weißenhorn, Illertissen, and surrounding municipalities within roughly a 50km radius.

The company's core service portfolio spans municipal waste collection (household, organic, bulky, paper, yellow bag/tonne, green waste, hazardous waste), commercial container rental (3 m³–38 m³), and a full industrial waste line that handles over 500 different waste types including hazardous materials. Knittel differentiates through four proprietary processing facilities: a Recycling-Center, a Sonderabfall-Zwischenlager (the first private special-waste intermediate storage facility in Bavaria, operated since 1996), a Vergärungsanlage (anaerobic digestion/biogas plant in Erkheim operational since 1998), and an Emulsions-Verwertungs-Anlage (EVA, commissioned in 2015) using VACUDEST vacuum evaporation technology for industrial oil-water emulsions, augmented by rooftop PV and heat recovery. Supporting infrastructure includes a modern fleet of collection, suction, and CCTV inspection vehicles, a TRGS520-certified mobile hazardous-waste unit, and a digital layer (online shop at shop.knittel-entsorgung.de, waste-collection calendar, newsletter).

Knittel's revenue model combines recurring municipal collection contracts (subscription-style, embedded in household waste fees), per-event container rental and industrial disposal fees (quote-based), specialized industrial services (EVA processing, special-waste handling, grease/oil separator cleaning), and professional services (waste analysis, consulting, CCTV inspection, sewer rehabilitation). The company holds Entsorgungsfachbetrieb certification (since 1997), TRGS 520 certification for its hazardous-waste unit, and a separator systems certification. Distribution is direct and field-service-led (no intermediaries), with an online shop for simple private-customer orders and a service hotline for commercial clients; partnerships include the LOGEX-Verbund network (for over-regional disposal concepts), InterZero (material-flow management), and the Duales System (yellow bag/yellow bin collections for packaging recycling).

Name

Knittel

Legal name

Knittel GmbH Abfallentsorgung & Knittel GmbH Städtereinigung

Website

https://knittel-entsorgung.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1953

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Knittel is a family-owned, third-generation Bavarian waste management and recycling company providing collection, disposal, and specialized processing (recycling, biogas, emulsion recovery, special-waste storage) to private households, municipalities, and industrial clients across the Neu-Ulm and Alb-Donau-Kreis districts, serving roughly 300,000 residents.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Vöhringen

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Waste Collection and Disposal Services: Core revenue from providing comprehensive waste collection, transport, and disposal services for municipalities, private households, and industrial/commercial clients. Services include regular scheduled pickups (household waste, bio waste, bulky waste, paper, yellow bag/tonne) and on-demand services (container rental, special waste pickup).
2. Container and Bin Rental Services: Rental of containers (3 m³ to 38 m³) and bins for waste collection from commercial and industrial customers. Revenue from container delivery, collection, and disposal fees.
3. Sewage and Drainage Services: Pipe and canal cleaning, camera inspection, repair and rehabilitation services for private households, municipalities, and industrial customers. Includes emergency/24-hour service for urgent situations.
4. Waste Analysis and Consulting: Waste analysis services, compliance consulting, waste concept development, and waste balance reporting for industrial and commercial customers.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Knittel is a family-owned full-service waste management and recycling company that provides collection, transport, processing, and disposal of waste for private households, municipalities, and industrial/commercial clients across Bavaria. Its core offering covers scheduled municipal waste collections (household, bio, bulky, paper, packaging, hazardous), on-demand container rental (3–38 m³), industrial special/hazardous waste handling, sewer cleaning and trenchless rehabilitation, and proprietary processing through a Recycling-Center, a Sonderabfall-Zwischenlager, a biogas plant, and a VACUDEST emulsion-recycling plant.

Product overview

Knittel Entsorgung is a family-owned full-service waste management and recycling company founded in 1953, offering integrated disposal solutions across three customer segments: private households, municipalities, and industry/commerce. The company's portfolio comprises core collection and disposal services (containers, household waste, organic waste, bulky waste, hazardous waste, paper recycling, green waste, electrical waste), wastewater/ sewer services (pipe cleaning, camera inspection, sewer renovation, suction services), specialized industrial services (special waste management, emulsion recycling via the proprietary EVA plant, workshop disposal, oil/grease separator cleaning, food waste collection), and processing facilities (Recycling-Center, Special Waste Interim Storage, Biogas Plant). Services are delivered through a modern vehicle fleet with digital scheduling (Abfuhrkalender) and an online shop for private customer orders. The company operates primarily in Bavaria's Neu-Ulm district with a service area extending over 50km from Vöhringen headquarters.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Containerdienst (Container Rental Service) Rental of containers from 3 m³ to 38 m³ for construction, renovation, and disposal projects, available to private households and commercial customers.
• Papiertonne (Paper Bin Collection) Free paper bin (Blaue Tonne) collection service for households with regular 4-week pickup schedule.
• Fäkalienabfuhr (Septic/Fecal Suction Service) Suction services for emptying and cleaning fecal/septic tanks and small sewage treatment plants with professional monitoring, for private and municipal customers.
• Rohr- und Abflussreinigung (Pipe and Drain Cleaning) Professional pipe and drain cleaning with 24/7 emergency availability using camera inspection and high-pressure cleaning technologies.
• Kanalsanierung (Trenchless Sewer Rehabilitation) Sewer renovation using trenchless innovative techniques to repair damage without pipe replacement; available to private, municipal, and industrial clients.
• TV- / Kamera-Untersuchung (CCTV Sewer Inspection) TV inspection services using modern camera technology in inspection vehicles to examine sewer networks and document conditions for private, municipal, and industrial customers.
• Hausmüllabfuhr (Municipal Household Waste Collection) Scheduled household waste collection for approximately 300,000 residents across multiple counties, cities, and municipalities on behalf of public-sector clients.
• Biomüllabfuhr (Organic Waste Collection and Recycling) Organic waste collection and recycling for municipalities; collected bio-waste is processed in biogas plants to produce biogas, electricity, heat, and quality compost at 100% recycling yield.
• Sperrmüllabfuhr (Bulky Waste Collection) Bulky waste collection service for municipalities using pickup and delivery systems, aimed at maximizing material recycling and closing resource cycles.
• Problemmüllsammlung (Hazardous Waste Collection) Hazardous waste collection via the company-owned TRGS 520-certified mobile hazardous-waste unit (Schadstoffmobil), transporting material to the Sonderabfall-Zwischenlager.
• Altpapiersammlung (Old Paper Collection) Old paper collection via 240-liter blue bins, recycling-center containers up to 38 m³, and depot containers for municipal paper recycling.
• Gelber Sack / Gelbe Tonne / Depotcontainer (Packaging Collection) Collection of used sales packaging (Yellow Sack/Yellow Bin) and container glass (white, green, brown) via depot containers, as partner of Dual Systems in Neu-Ulm and Alb-Donau-Kreis districts.
• Kommunale Wertstoffhöfe (Municipal Recycling Center Operations) Operation of municipal recycling centers including staffing, container provision, regular waste collection, and material recycling/disposal for municipalities.
• Grüngutsammlung (Green Waste Collection) Green waste collection and recycling for municipalities via seasonal pickup (spring and autumn) or year-round delivery at the recycling center.
• Elektro-Alt-Geräte (WEEE Collection and Processing) Collection and processing of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) at the Recycling-Center in Vöhringen with various container and logistics systems.
• Kanalreinigung / Saugarbeiten für Kommunen (Municipal Sewer Cleaning and Suction) Sewer cleaning and suction services for municipalities including emptying retention basins, pumping stations, lifting systems, and sediment tanks.
• Containerservice Industrie (Industrial Container Service) Customized container solutions for industry and trade with containers from 3 m³ to 38 m³ for all waste types including hazardous materials.
• Abfälle und Wertstoffe aller Art (Comprehensive Industrial Waste & Recyclables Management) Comprehensive waste and recyclable materials management for industrial clients, handling over 500 different waste types including energy-recovery waste, wood, tires, electronics, glass, paper, plastics, and metals.
• Sonderabfälle / Problemmüll (Industrial Special and Hazardous Waste Management) Special/hazardous waste management including waste oil, asbestos cement panels, batteries, chemicals, emulsions, solvents, and fluorescent tubes with on-site interim storage facility.
• Emulsions-Verwertungs-Anlage (EVA – Industrial Emulsion Recycling Plant) Proprietary VACUDEST vacuum evaporation plant for treating industrial oil-water emulsions, separator contents, and machining emulsions for recycling, with heat recovery and rooftop PV.
• Werkstattentsorgung (Workshop Waste Disposal) Complete waste disposal service for workshops including auto glass, brake and coolant fluids, fuel and solvent mixtures, and oil filters.
• Ölabscheider-Reinigung (Oil Separator Cleaning) Oil separator cleaning, inspection, and renovation services using specialized suction vehicles, including leak testing and pipe inspections.
• Fettabscheider-Reinigung (Grease Separator Cleaning) Complete grease separator service for gastronomy, meat processing, and butcher shops, with disposal to biogas plants for ecological and economic recycling.
• Speisereste und Verpackte Lebensmittel (Food Waste Collection) Collection service for food waste and expired packaged foods from restaurants, canteens, and food retail, with 120L and 240L containers and specialized vehicles.
• Abfallanalysen / Abfallkonzepte (Waste Analysis and Consulting) Waste analysis and consulting services for cost optimization and legally compliant waste disposal, including waste concept development and waste balance creation for industrial clients.
• Sonderabfall-Zwischenlager (Special Waste Intermediate Storage Facility) On-site special-waste interim storage facility enabling ecological and economical disposal by consolidating solid and liquid hazardous waste into larger transport units.
• Recycling-Center (Material Recycling Facility) Knittel's central facility for collecting, sorting and processing recyclable materials including packaging, paper, glass, plastics, metals, electronics, and construction waste.
• Vergärungsanlage (Biogas Plant) Biogas plant for anaerobic digestion of organic waste, producing biogas, electricity, heat, and quality compost.
• Online Shop (Direct Container and Paper-Bin Ordering) Self-service online ordering platform for private customers to directly order containers and blue paper bins (Papiertonne) for home delivery.
• Abfuhrkalender (Digital Waste Collection Calendar) Digital waste collection calendar with PDF downloads and calendar-file imports for municipalities in the Neu-Ulm district, supporting private and municipal customers.

Quantifiable outcome

• 100% recycling rate for collected bio-organic waste
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• LOGEX-VerbundcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLOGEX is a waste management network that provides access to nationwide disposal concepts for large trading companies, manufacturers, and entire industries. Through this partnership, Knittel can offer over-regional disposal solutions beyond their direct service area while leveraging the combined network's purchasing power and expertise.
• InterZero (Interzero)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership in the area of material flow management and circular economy solutions. Jürgen Busse serves as Bereichsleiter Vertrieb, Stoffstrommanagement / INTERZERO, indicating a close working relationship for providing comprehensive waste solutions.
• Dual Systems (Duales System)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLong-term partner of the Dual Systems (dual systems for packaging recycling) in the districts of Neu-Ulm and Alb-Donau-Kreis. Knittel collects and processes used sales packaging through Yellow Bag/Yellow Bin system for material recycling.
• Biogas Plants / VergärungsanlagencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with biogas/anaerobic digestion facilities (including facility in Erkheim) for processing bio-organic waste into biogas, electricity, heat, and quality compost. Enables 100% recycling of organic waste streams.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Broad incumbents

• Veolia Umweltservice (Veolia Deutschland): German arm of global environmental services group providing municipal waste management, industrial services, and hazardous waste handling. Comparable to Knittel on municipal contracts, Sonderabfall, and Entsorgungsfachbetrieb-style certified operations, but with substantially larger geographic coverage and integration into energy/water services.
• REMONDIS: Germany's largest privately held waste and recycling company, operating across municipal collection, industrial services, hazardous waste, and recycling infrastructure nationwide. Directly comparable to Knittel across household, municipal, and industrial waste segments but at national scale, making Knittel's regional Bavaria footprint a sub-scale subset of REMONDIS' market.
• PreZero: Recycling and environmental services subsidiary of the Schwarz Group (Lidl/Kaufland parent) operating collection, sorting, and recycling facilities across Germany. Comparable to Knittel's Recycling-Center and Wertstoffhof operations and to its yellow-bag/yellow-bin Dual Systems collection role.
• SUEZ Recycling and Recovery Deutschland: German operations of SUEZ (now merged into Veolia group) providing municipal waste contracts, recycling, and industrial hazardous waste services. Comparable to Knittel on municipal Hausmüll/Biomüll/Sperrmüll collections and Sonderabfall handling at certified facilities.

Direct peers

• Interseroh: German recycling and raw materials trading company focused on packaging recovery, Dual Systems participation, and Stoffstrommanagement/circular economy services for industrial clients. Comparable to Knittel on the InterZero-type Stoffstrommanagement partnership and on serving large commercial customers with material-flow solutions.
• Knettenbrech + Gurdulic: Regional German waste management and Stadtreinigung company operating container services, hazardous waste, recycling centers, and canal/sewer services. Highly comparable regional peer to Knittel across all three customer segments (private, municipal, industrial) with similar integrated service portfolio.
• Wittmann Entsorgungswirtschaft: Bavarian/Austrian family-run waste management group offering container services, Sonderabfall, recycling, and sewer services across southern Germany and Austria. Closely comparable mid-size family-owned competitor to Knittel in overlapping southern German service territory.

Others

• ALBA Group: German recycling and waste services group covering collection, sorting, and material recovery for municipalities and industry. Directly comparable to Knittel on Dual Systems partnership, Wertstoffhof operation, and industrial waste streams, though operating across multiple German states.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

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Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Knittel