Zweckverband Abfallwirtschaft Oberes Elbtal

What Zweckverband Abfallwirtschaft Oberes Elbtal does

Zweckverband Abfallwirtschaft Oberes Elbtal (ZAOE) is a public-law municipal waste management association (Zweckverband) under German municipal law, founded in 1992 and jointly owned by the districts of Landkreis Meißen and Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge in Saxony, eastern Germany. The organization holds the legally mandated exclusive responsibility for waste management across the full territories of its two member districts, with households subject to a mandatory Anschlusspflicht (connection obligation) to use ZAOE services. Its service portfolio includes scheduled curb-side collection of residual waste, bio-waste, paper, and packaging; bulky waste and e-waste pickup via online forms; a network of Wertstoffhöfe (recycling centers) and self-service digital access at Pirna-Copitz; mobile hazardous-waste collection (Schadstoffmobil); and operations/maintenance of landfill sites at Gröbern, Groptitz, Cunnersdorf, and the former Freital Schlammteich 2.

Underlying infrastructure includes a transfer station at Gröbern, four landfill sites with associated methane capture systems (notably a 97% methane capture rate improvement at Deponie Gröbern and 75% at Deponie Groptitz under KSI funding), and the Umweltzentrum Freital public-education facility. Yellow bin (packaging) collection is outsourced to third-party contractors Kühl Entsorgung, Nehlsen Sachsen, and REMONDIS Elbe-Röder depending on region. The technology surface consists of a TYPO3-based website (www.zaoe.de), a digital Waste Calendar with iCal integration, a WhatsApp information channel, online bulky-waste and self-service forms (hosted by Mittwald), and multilingual separation guides.

Revenue is generated through a fee-based model under ZAOE's Abfallgebührensatzung (waste fee schedule) levied on property owners and residents in the two member districts, supplemented by federal and state grants via the National Climate Protection Initiative (Nationale Klimaschutzinitiative) administered through ZUG gGmbH, and BMBF funding for circular-economy research projects such as INTEGRAL. There are no private equity, venture capital, or individual ownership interests; the entity is entirely publicly owned and governed by a Verbandsversammlung chaired by Landrat Michael Geisler, with Roman Toedter serving as Geschäftsführer (Managing Director).

Name

Zweckverband Abfallwirtschaft Oberes Elbtal

Legal name

Zweckverband Abfallwirtschaft Oberes Elbtal

Website

https://zaoe.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Zweckverband Abfallwirtschaft Oberes Elbtal (ZAOE) is a German public-law waste management association founded in 1992, providing mandatory municipal waste collection, recycling, and landfill management services to households and businesses across the Meißen and Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge districts in Saxony.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Radebeul

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices8 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

ZAOE is a public-law waste management association (Zweckverband) that provides comprehensive municipal waste disposal services for residents and businesses in the Meißen and Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge districts in Saxony, Germany. Its core offerings include curb-side collection of residual, bio, paper and packaging waste, a network of staffed and self-service recycling centers (Wertstoffhöfe), appointment-based bulky waste and e-waste pickup, mobile hazardous waste collection (Schadstoffmobil), and operation of multiple landfill sites including Deponie Gröbern, Groptitz, Cunnersdorf and Freital Schlammteich 2.

Product overview

Zweckverband Abfallwirtschaft Oberes Elbtal (ZAOE) is a public-law waste management association founded in 1992, providing comprehensive municipal waste services to the Meißen and Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge districts. The service portfolio includes the core Online Waste Calendar for scheduling disposal appointments, Bulky Waste Collection scheduling, a network of Recycling Centers with physical drop-off facilities, the Waste ABC reference guide, and community initiatives like the Give Instead of Throw Away reuse program. Digital services include a WhatsApp communication channel and the Self-Service Recycling Center at Pirna-Copitz. ZAOE also operates landfill facilities (Gröbern, Groptitz, Cunnersdorf) and maintains a transfer station, supporting the public-facing services with environmental education through the Umweltzentrum Freital.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Curbside Waste Collection Service Scheduled collection of residual waste, bio-waste, paper and packaging directly from residential properties in the Meißen and Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge districts. Yellow bin (Gelbe Tonne) collection is operated via third-party contractors (Kühl Entsorgung, Nehlsen Sachsen, REMONDIS) in defined sub-areas.
• Recycling Centers (Wertstoffhöfe) Network of staffed and self-service drop-off facilities accepting bulky waste, electronic equipment, hazardous waste, construction debris, metals, glass and green waste. Locations include Gröbern, Saugrund, Kleincotta, Pirna-Copitz (with self-service option), Meißen, and Großenhain (undergoing modernization, interim site in Quersa).
• Bulky Waste and E-Waste Pickup (Sperrmüllabholung) Online form-based scheduling for bulky waste and e-waste collection at residential properties, with a full-service option in which ZAOE staff remove items from the property.
• Mobile Hazardous Waste Collection (Schadstoffmobil) Mobile collection of hazardous household waste including batteries, paints, solvents and asbestos at scheduled locations throughout the ZAOE service area.
• Landfill Management Services Operation, remediation and methane capture across multiple landfill sites: Deponie Gröbern (15.2 ha, partially operational with methane oxidation layer), Deponie Groptitz (9.5 ha, closed 2003, in-situ stabilization), Deponie Freital Schlammteich 2 (~6.5 ha, former Wismut settling basin, closed 2000), and Deponie Cunnersdorf with constructed-wetland water treatment.
• Give Instead of Throw Away (Geben statt Wegwerfen) Reuse initiative in partnership with Diakonie Pirna that diverts good-quality bulky items from disposal for refurbishment and resale at the DIKA charity shop, supporting both waste reduction and social objectives.
• Environmental Center Freital (Umweltzentrum Freital) Public environmental education facility offering awareness programs and information about sustainable waste management for residents and schools in the ZAOE service area.
• Waste Disposal Information Service (Abfall-ABC) Reference guide and multilingual advisory service explaining correct disposal procedures for various waste types, including separation flyers in German, English, Polish, Russian, Czech, Arabic and Albanian.

Quantifiable outcome

• Deponie Gröbern: 97% increase in methane capture rate vs. existing system; reduction of ~1.78 Mio. Nm³ methane emissions (≈35,700 Mg CO₂ equivalents) from 2021–2041
• +2 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Diakonie Pirna / DIKA (Diakonie-Kaufhaus Pirna)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 April 2025Partnership for the 'Geben statt Wegwerfen' (Give Instead of Throw Away) reuse program. DIKA collects good-quality bulky items during scheduled pickups, refurbishes them, and resells through its retail store. This supports both waste reduction and social objectives. The program expanded in April 2025 to additional postal code areas (01796, 01809, 01816, 01824, 01825). DIKA also visits ZAOE recycling centers regularly to accept donations on-site.
• Eisenlohr Energie- und Umwelttechnik (engineering consultancy)coreTechnology or IntegrationEngineering partner for multiple landfill remediation and gas capture projects (Deponie Freital, Deponie Groptitz, Deponie Gröbern). Responsible for feasibility studies, gas prediction modeling, system design, and optimization of existing gas capture infrastructure. Worked on in-situ stabilization of three landfill sites under KSI (National Climate Protection Initiative) funding.
• Zukunft-Umwelt-Gesellschaft (ZUG) gGmbHcoreOthersProject funding agency (Projektträger) for multiple federally funded environmental projects. Manages KSI (Nationale Klimaschutzinitiative) grants for landfill methane capture improvements at Deponie Freital, Groptitz, and Gröbern. ZUG acts as the intermediary between ZAOE and the Federal Ministry for Environment (BMUV/BMBF).
• Kühl Entsorgung und Recycling GmbH & Co. KGcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThird-party waste collection company responsible for yellow bin (Gelbe Tonne) collection in the Weißeritzkreis and Sächsische Schweiz region. Contact: Hauptstraße 100, 01809 Heidenau; Tel.: 0800 4020040. Citizens are directed to this contractor for yellow bin issues.
• Nehlsen Sachsen GmbH & Co. KGcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThird-party waste collection company responsible for yellow bin (Gelbe Tonne) collection in the Meißen region (except Radeburg). Contact: Radeburger Straße 65, OT Gröbern, 01689 Niederau; Tel.: 03521 7654-250.
• REMONDIS Elbe-Röder GmbHcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThird-party waste collection company responsible for yellow bin (Gelbe Tonne) collection in the Riesa-Großenhain region (including Radeburg). Also operates the interim recycling center site in Quersa during Großenhain modernization (Mühlbacher Weg 3, Lampertswalde). Handles paper/cardboard collection in some areas.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Nehlsen Sachsen GmbH & Co. KG: Regional private hauler handling yellow-bin collection in the Meißen region for ZAOE; comparable on the operational side (curbside collection, recyclables) but a regional private player rather than a public authority.

Direct peers

• Entsorgungsbetriebe Essen (EBE): Municipal waste operator for the city of Essen providing household waste collection, recycling center network, bulky-waste service, and hazardous-waste handling — same municipal-waste-utility model as ZAOE.
• Abfallwirtschaftsbetrieb München (AWM): City of Munich's municipal waste operator running curbside collection, recycling centers, bulky waste pickup, and a hazardous-waste mobile service (Giftmobil) — directly comparable in service design and statutory role to ZAOE.
• Berliner Stadtreinigung (BSR): Berlin's municipal waste management authority (AöR) providing curbside collection, recycling centers, bulky waste, and hazardous waste services to a metropolitan area — same core mandate and service mix as ZAOE, just at city scale rather than two-district scale.
• Zweckverband Abfallwirtschaft Region Aachen: Zweckverband covering multiple districts in the Aachen region with municipal waste collection, recycling centers, and hazardous-waste services — the most structurally analogous legal entity to ZAOE (same German Zweckverband form, same multi-district mandate).
• Stadtreinigung Hamburg (SRH): Hamburg's municipal waste utility operating collection, recycling yards, hazardous-waste mobile collection, and winter services under a public mandate — a comparable municipal waste authority with a comparable service portfolio and statutory monopoly.
• Zweckverband Abfallwirtschaft Südwestsachsen (ZAS): Saxony-based Zweckverband providing waste management for several districts in southwest Saxony — same state, same legal form, and overlapping service mix with ZAOE, making it the closest regional structural peer.

Broad incumbents

• ALBA Group (ALBA / Interseroh): Berlin-headquartered private recycling and waste services group operating collection, sorting, and material-recycling services across Germany — a broad incumbent on the recycling and circular-economy side of ZAOE's business.
• Veolia Umweltservice (Veolia Deutschland): Major private waste-management operator in Germany providing municipal collection, recycling, and disposal under long-term contracts — a broad incumbent competing with municipal authorities like ZAOE for district-level service contracts.
• REMONDIS: One of Europe's largest private waste and recycling companies; already a contracted yellow-bin hauler for ZAOE in the Riesa-Großenhain region — comparable private-sector counterpart operating across collection, recycling, and disposal.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/zweckverband-abfallwirtschaft-oberes-elbtal

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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