Ernst Gerber

What Ernst Gerber does

Ernst Gerber AG is a Swiss family-owned environmental services company headquartered in Roggwil (Canton of Bern), founded circa 1959 and currently operated in its second generation under authorized representatives Urs Gerber and Peter Gerber. The company delivers a portfolio of complementary service lines centered on three pillars: canal and drain cleaning (Kanalreinigung, Ablaufreinigung, Kanalfernsehen/CCTV inspection, Dichtheitsprüfung), waste collection and disposal (Entsorgung, Muldenservice container rental from 4–40 m³, Recycling-Sack, Bohrschlamm Entsorgung via a 300 m³/day treatment plant, Kompogas bio-waste, Erdgas Sammelfahrzeuge), and roof greening (Dachbegrünung) with proprietary SFG-certified substrates (Gerber Extensiv, Hygromix-Porlit with FLL certification) and a roof-tile recycling facility. Supporting services include high-capacity suction and blowing (Saugen/Blasen, working heights up to 60 m, hose lengths up to 150 m, 40 m³ silo vehicles), surface and sports-field cleaning, and a mobile treatment plant for road shaft emptying.

The underlying technology base is mechanical and capital-intensive rather than digital: a specialized fleet including super suction vehicles (3–4× standard power), high-pressure flushing trucks with CCTV integration, compact sweepers, and two CNG Econic NGT vehicles meeting EEV emissions, plus in-house substrate mixing/manufacturing and a fully automated 24-hour borehole slurry treatment plant. Operations are dispatched from four branches (Roggwil HQ, Langenthal, Herzogenbuchsee, Rothrist) and a walk-in collection point (Brings Sammelstelle) in Herzogenbuchsee.

The business model is professional-services based with quote-driven pricing for most jobs, a single publicly listed SKU (Recycling-Sack at CHF 185), unit pricing for roof greening (CHF 30–35/m² extensive, CHF 16/m² gravel), and subscription tiers (Reinigungsabo and Sorglospaket Liegenschaft, 5% discount) for recurring property care. Customers span municipalities (40+ served), industrial/commercial enterprises, construction companies, and private households across the Langenthal/Oberaargau and Bern regions. Revenue is not publicly disclosed; the company is privately held with no external funding, no M&A history, and no subsidiaries.

Name

Ernst Gerber

Legal name

Ernst Gerber AG

Website

https://gerber-ag.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

1959

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Ernst Gerber AG is a Swiss family-owned environmental services company (founded ~1959, 100+ employees) providing canal/drain cleaning, waste disposal, container rental, and roof greening services to 40+ municipalities, industrial/commercial businesses, and households across the Langenthal-to-Bern region.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Services / Waste Management & Drainage Services

NAICS

Waste Collection (5621), Other Nonhazardous Waste Treatment and Disposal (562219), Waste Collection (56211), Other Waste Collection (562119)

SIC

Refuse Systems (4953), Sanitary Services (4950)

akta.pro primary industry

Catch Basins, Channel Drains & Grates (Install/Clean/Repair) (HSAIAKAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Tree Debris & Storm Cleanup Hauling (Branches, Logs) (HSAIAOAB)

Keywords

• Canal cleaning services
• Waste disposal services
• Roof greening services
• Container rental
• Drain cleaning services

Headquarters

HQ city

Roggwil

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Canal and Drain Cleaning Services: Professional canal cleaning, pipe unblocking, drainage maintenance, and tightness testing services delivered on-site using specialized flushing and suction vehicles. Includes emergency round-the-clock service.
2. Waste Collection and Disposal Services: Collection and disposal of refuse, green waste, paper, and cardboard for over 40 municipalities using a fleet of natural gas and Euro-6/electric vehicles. Includes special waste disposal (oil separators, slurries, borehole slurry) via proprietary treatment facility.
3. Mulden (Skip/Container) Rental Service: Rental of containers and skips in sizes from 4 m³ to 40 m³, open or covered. Serves construction companies, industry, and private households for waste removal. Revenue from rental fees and disposal charges.
4. Roof Greening (Dachbegrünung): Complete rooftop greening service including substrate manufacture, delivery, installation, and seeding. Covers extensive (8–10 cm layer) and intensive (up to 100 cm) greening. Substrates are SFG certified. Also includes gravel roofing and tree substrates.
5. Recycling-Sack (Recycling Bag) Service: Form-stable heavy-duty bag (1,000 litres, 1,500 kg payload) delivered to customer, filled, and collected. Includes full disposal and recycling. Price CHF 185 per sack.
6. Suction and Blowing Services: Super suction vehicles remove dry, wet, and slurry materials from flat roofs, construction sites, silos, wells, and ponds. Blowing services install substrates, gravel, and split on rooftops. Charged per service call.
7. Surface and Sports Field Cleaning: High-pressure cleaning of surfaces, construction sites, and roads using compact sweeper machines. Sports field cleaning using roto-hydrojet technology with full wastewater collection and hazardous waste disposal.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Ernst Gerber AG is a Swiss environmental services company providing canal and drain cleaning, municipal and industrial waste collection and disposal, container (Mulden) rental, suction and blowing services, and complete roof greening (Dachbegrünung) solutions. The company operates a specialized fleet — including high-pressure flushing trucks, super-suction vehicles, CCTV inspection equipment, natural gas collection vehicles, and a proprietary mobile borehole slurry treatment plant — and manufactures its own SFG-certified green roof substrates. Services are delivered across more than 40 municipalities in the Langenthal/Oberaargau to Bern region of Switzerland.

Product overview

Ernst Gerber AG is a Swiss environmental services company operating as a service provider rather than a software product company. Their portfolio consists of complementary service lines centered around canal/sewer maintenance, waste disposal, and roof greening. The core offerings include: Kanalreinigung (canal/sewer cleaning with high-pressure flushing and CCTV inspection), Entsorgung (municipal and commercial waste collection), Muldenservice (container rental), and Dachbegrünung (green roof installation with proprietary substrates). Supporting services include Saugen/Blasen (industrial vacuum/blowing), Ablaufreinigung (drain cleaning), Flächen- und Sportplatzreinigung (surface cleaning), Dichtheitsprüfung (leak testing), Bohrschlamm Entsorgung (drilling sludge disposal), and Kompogas (bio-waste processing). The company manufactures its own greening substrates (SFG-certified Gerber Extensiv, Hygromix-Porlit, Lava-Bims, Ziegelsubstrat) and offers specialty products like Baumsubstrate for street trees and recycled roof tile materials. Services are delivered through a modern fleet including natural gas collection vehicles and super vacuum trucks, with operations spanning over 40 municipalities across the Bern region.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Kanalreinigung (Canal Cleaning) Professional canal and sewer cleaning services using high-pressure water flushing, small-scale cleaners with suction trailers, and TV cameras for inspection monitoring. Includes 24/7 emergency service for blocked drains and a subscription 'Reinigungsabo' with 5% discount. Sold to municipalities, industrial/commercial businesses, and private households.
• Entsorgung (Waste Disposal Services) Waste collection and disposal services covering refuse, green waste, paper, and cardboard for over 40 municipalities, plus industrial and commercial customers and private households. Operated via a fleet including two natural gas collection vehicles (Econic NGT) and Euro 5/6 trucks. Includes special waste disposal for oil separators, slurries, and borehole slurry via a proprietary treatment plant.
• Muldenservice (Container Rental) Rental of containers and skips in sizes from 4 m³ to 40 m³, open or covered, including Normalmulde, Sperrgutmulde, Stadtmulde, Tormulde, Abrollmulde, and Pressmulde types. 30 days of rental included, additional charges thereafter. Serves construction companies, industry, and private households.
• Dachbegrünung (Roof Greening) Complete green roof installation service including substrate mixing, storage, delivery, installation, and seeding. Offers extensive (8-10 cm layer) and intensive (up to 100 cm) greening solutions for flat roofs of industrial, commercial, and residential buildings. Extensive greening priced ~CHF 30-35 per m². Extends roof lifespan to ~40 years and retains up to 90% of precipitation.
• Saugen und Blasen (Super Suction and Blowing) Super vacuum trucks capable of suction and blowing of solid and liquid materials — gravel, sand, substrates, humus, slag — from flat roofs, construction sites, silos, wells, and ponds. Working heights up to 60 m with hose lengths up to 150 m. Silo power inflation technology blows 40 m³ substrate in 1.5 hours. Charged per service call.
• Ablaufreinigung (Drain Cleaning) Professional drain and pipe cleaning services to remove calcium, fat, and other deposits using flexible drain cameras and bendable flush cameras for heavily branched pipe systems. Available as a subscription 'Sorglospaket Liegenschaft' with 5% discount and customer-chosen interval (e.g., annual, semi-annual).
• Flächen- und Sportplatzreinigung (Surface and Sports Field Cleaning) Surface cleaning for construction sites, work areas, roads, and sports fields using high-pressure water and hydrotechnics. Roto-Hydrojet technology provides deep cleaning of sports field surfaces with full wastewater collection and hazardous waste disposal.
• Dichtheitspruefung (Leak Testing) Leak testing for wastewater pipes using air or water pressure according to VSA guidelines, SIA-Norm 190, and EN 1610. Results are documented in writing and officially recognized by authorities.
• Bohrschlamm Entsorgung (Drilling Sludge Disposal) Environmentally friendly disposal of drilling sludge from geothermal probes. Multi-stage process separates sludge from water using a chamber filter press; water is reused and deponable dry cake is produced. The treatment plant runs fully automatically in 24-hour operation at up to 300 m³ per day and recovers up to 60% of material as reusable sand and gravel.
• Brings Sammelstelle (Collection Point) Customer-friendly walk-in collection point in Herzogenbuchsee (Byfangweg 3b) for private and commercial waste disposal at advantageous conditions, open Monday-Friday 14:00-18:00 and Saturday 8:30-17:00.
• Kompogas (Bio-waste Processing) Bio-waste collection and processing in partnership with the Kompogas anaerobic digestion facility in Langenthal. Converts organic waste into compost, CO2-neutral biogas (105-130 m³ per tonne of bio-waste, equivalent to ~70 litres of petrol), electricity, and heat. Includes tailored collection concepts with financing models.
• Recycling-Sack (Recycling Bag Service) Form-stable heavy-duty bag (1,000 litres volume, 1,500 kg payload, 90x90x120 cm) delivered to customer, filled, and collected. Includes full disposal and recycling. Priced at CHF 185 per sack all-inclusive, suitable for construction debris, renovation waste, garden maintenance, and general disposal.
• Begrünungssubstrate (Green Roof Substrates) SFG-certified substrates for extensive roof greening including Gerber Extensiv (brick splinter, lava, compost), Hygromix-Porlit (FLL certified), Lava-Bims, and Ziegelsubstrat. Mixed in-house from recycled construction materials and sold as standalone substrate products to roof greening customers.
• Baumsubstrat (Tree Substrate) Special substrate mixture for street trees and extreme locations composed of brick splinter, shale, lava, gravel, and sand. Provides structural stability and high water storage volume. Available in bulk or Big Bags for delivery.
• Dachziegel Recycling (Roof Tile Recycling) Processing of broken roof tiles into high-quality recycled building materials via crushing equipment. Produces 3-16 mm grain for substrates and 0-3 mm for landscaping products, with annual processing of several thousand tons. Sold as a standalone recycling output to construction and landscaping buyers.

Quantifiable outcome

• Extends roof lifespan from 10–15 years (gravel) to approximately 40 years with greening
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• KompogascoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerErnst Gerber AG is a partner of the Kompogas facility in Langenthal for organic waste processing. Kompogas converts green waste and kitchen scraps into CO2-neutral biogas (105–130 m³ per tonne, equivalent to ~70 litres of petrol). The partnership provides tailored collection concepts including financing models for green material and biomass. Ernst Gerber AG collects and delivers bio-waste to the Kompogas facility, and CNG collection vehicles can be operated on the resulting biogas.
• Clientis Bank OberaargauminorOthersClientis Bank Oberaargau (4950 Huttwil, BIC RBABCH22450) serves as the company's bank. The partnership provides standard commercial banking services including CHF and Euro accounts.
• GLOBONET GmbHminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerGLOBONET GmbH provides search engine optimization (SEO) services for the Ernst Gerber AG website.

Scale indicators7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Remondis Schweiz AG: Swiss subsidiary of German environmental services group Remondis. Comparable because it operates waste collection, recycling, and disposal services in Switzerland under a different regional focus, providing head-to-head competition for municipal tenders and commercial accounts in overlapping geographies.

Others

• Rioned GmbH: European manufacturer of high-pressure cleaning and pipe-jetting equipment used in drain and canal cleaning. Comparable as an upstream equipment supplier enabling the same canal/drain cleaning service line Ernst Gerber AG delivers with its Kleinspüler and high-pressure flushing fleet.

Direct peers

• Kompogas: Swiss bio-waste processing operator that converts organic waste into CO2-neutral biogas and compost. Directly comparable because Ernst Gerber AG is a collection-and-delivery partner feeding Kompogas's Langenthal facility, and both operate in the same regional bio-waste value chain with overlapping Swiss municipalities.
• Optigrün international AG: Specialist provider of green-roof systems, substrates, and installation services across the DACH region. Directly comparable to Ernst Gerber AG's Dachbegrünung line because both deliver substrate manufacturing and roof-greening installation, although Optigrün operates at a larger DACH scale.
• ZinCo GmbH: German-based manufacturer and supplier of green-roof systems and substrates. Comparable to Ernst Gerber AG's roof greening business as a competing system provider that also sells certified substrates and offers technical support to roof-greening installers in Switzerland and the DACH region.
• Wechsler Entsorgung AG: Swiss regional waste disposal and container-rental operator. Directly comparable to Ernst Gerber AG's Entsorgung and Muldenservice lines because it competes for similar commercial and construction accounts with skip/container rental, special-waste handling, and recycling services in adjacent Swiss regions.
• Eberhard Recycling AG: Swiss construction and recycling group providing building materials, disposal, and site logistics. Comparable because it competes directly in Swiss construction waste, container, and recycling services and shares municipal and contractor customer segments with Ernst Gerber AG in parts of German-speaking Switzerland.

Broad incumbents

• Veolia Umweltservice Schweiz AG: Swiss arm of global environmental services major Veolia. Comparable as a broad incumbent offering waste collection, recycling, and environmental services across Switzerland that competes for many of the same municipal contracts Ernst Gerber AG targets, though it serves a much wider national footprint.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/gerberagroggwil/?view_public_for=1146753005412308
• Instagraminstagram.com/ernst_gerber_ag?igshid=1rt7b09cuil5l

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 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 Ernst Gerber