During a trip, managers from REMONDIS, Rhenus and Transdev (regional director south Horst Windeisen) took the opportunity to showcase the three companies' activities in the south-west region of Germany to one another. As part of the event, they visited the bus transportation firm PalatinaBus - which is part of Transdev - in Edenkoben, Rhineland-Palatinate. The managers next called on the regional headquarters of REMONDIS Südwest (managing director Thomas Drewer). Attendees then stopped by the Rhenus Group's activities in the port of Mannheim where it provides all of the logistics services. The exchange of ideas and information was most definitely a win-win situation for everyone involved!   

Credit: Hamburg Wasser

Hamburger Phosphorrecyclinggesellschaft mbH (HPHOR), the joint venture created by REMONDIS and HAMBURG WASSER, laid the foundation for the world’s first industrial-scale plant to extract phosphates from sewage sludge ash this year. Using the patented REMONDIS TetraPhos® technology, the plant will extract 7 000 tonnes of our high-purity phosphoric acid product, RePacid®, from around 20 000 tonnes of sewage sludge ash each year once it starts operating in 2020.

REMONDIS and Nespresso are delivering exemplary recycling of coffee capsules. Irmgard Rethmann, Norbert Rethmann, Honorary Chairman of the RETHMANN Supervisory Board, and Heinrich Zölzer, retired member of the RETHMANN Supervisory Board, were able to see the fruits of this partnership first-hand when they stopped by REMONDIS' site in Lichtenvoorde, Netherlands with a delegation. REMONDIS operates a recycling line in Lichtenvoorde that separates aluminium from coffee capsules from coffee grounds. As this extracted lightweight metal has high purity, it can be compacted or melted down and then sent straight to aluminium-processing businesses. Coffee grounds can also be recovered to generate biogas, make compost and provide CO2 fertiliser.

Credit: REMONDIS Group

The REMONDIS Group continues to grow – including in the Netherlands. REMONDIS’ acquisition of its industry partner Rijnmond Milieu B.V. in Oud-Beijerland in the Netherlands at the start of 2019 will help to strengthen our foothold in the Zuid-Holland region. Rijnmond Milieu specialises in collecting industrial waste, paper and other material streams throughout the Zuid-Holland province from the Rotterdam Rijnmond region.

REMONDIS is also expanding its water business in India where REMONDIS Aqua offers zero liquid discharge (ZLD). In the ZLD concept, water is used in the manufacturing process before being treated and recycled so that it can ultimately be returned to production as treated process water. In 2016, REMONDIS Aqua successfully implemented a ZLD project with Polyplastics in Bhiwadi (above left). Another ZLD plant at the new Polyplastics site in Gujarat, which is also being built and operated by REMONDIS, is already in the construction phase. The speciality chemicals group Evonik also recently awarded REMONDIS a contract to build and operate a new ZLD plant at its site in Dombivli, around 40 km north-east of Mumbai. In 2018, REMONDIS installed the first fully automated ZLD plant for the fragrance and beauty product manufacturer Givaudan (above right).

Entering the Swedish market in 2017 has been another important step for REMONDIS that will continue to drive the company's growth. Since then, REMONDIS has been providing a full range of recycling services, such as collecting and treating commercial and municipal waste. REMONDIS also serves as a contact for many surrounding local authorities, industrial and retail businesses as well as private households when it comes to handling material collected via the Swedish take-back scheme for used sales packaging.

Credit: REMONDIS Group

As part of the REMONDIS Group, Xervon is actively involved in the process industry on the global stage by providing small-scale and large-scale industrial services. For many years, Xervon has specialised in providing sector-specific industrial services to erect and maintain industrial plants and construction projects – all over the world! For instance, XERVON offers all kinds of services to companies in Egypt’s petrochemical, energy and steel industry.

Credit: CML Ltd.

Rhenus Warehousing Solutions Europe acquired the British 3PL (Third Party Logistics) provider, Core Management Logistics, in January 2019. The logistics company, which has its headquarters in Lutterworth, in the County of Leicestershire, provides warehousing, pre-retail, freight forwarding and distribution services in the United Kingdom.

Credit: CML Ltd.

Credit: Rhenus BV.

The Rhenus Group acquired the Canada-based customised logistics solutions specialist Rodair, which has its headquarters in Toronto, in March 2019. The acquisition is subject to approval by the competent authorities. Rodair's core business activities include international freight forwarding, project logistics, courier services, warehousing and distribution, 3PL services, and e-commerce solutions. Besides its headquarters in Toronto, the company founded in 1996 has business sites in Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver.

Credit: Rhenus SE & Co. KG

Credit: World Net Logistics

The Rhenus Group took over the South African freight forwarding and logistics specialist, World Net Logistics (WNL), which has its headquarters in Johannesburg, in March 2019. In addition to having a dense network of business sites in South Africa, the company also has several branches and partners in Asia and Germany. The takeover is still subject to approval from anti-trust authorities. Air and sea freight operations are among World Net Logistics' core business activities.

Credit: Freight Logistics

Rhenus acquired the international freight forwarder and logistics solutions provider, Freight Logistics, headquartered in Miami, Florida, in April 2019. Freight Logistics operates its own consolidation hub located near Miami International Airport, and has its own offices in Argentina, Brazil and Chile. Following prior acquisitions by the Rhenus Group in Brazil and Canada, the acquisition of Freight Logistics will further strengthen the presence of Rhenus Air & Ocean in the Americas.

Credit: Wiktor Slepokurow on behalf of Rhenus SE & Co. KG.

The Rhenus Group opened a new logistics facility in Voronezh in the presence of many guests from the worlds of politics and business in May 2019. The centre in the south of central Russia is connected to the launch of the Rhenus Silk Way project. The business site will focus on developing dedicated transport and logistics solutions for customers in the agricultural sector. The logistics centre has a 20 000 m² warehouse and 2 500 m² of office space.

Credit: Rhenus SE & Co. KG

Over the last couple of years, Rhenus has grown significantly in both customers and volumes. Given these positive internal and external developments, Rhenus has chosen to open new facilities in the Netherlands to accommodate continuous growth. Rhenus‘s new logistics centre in Eindhoven provides more than 50 000 m² of storage space.

Long-time executive Jean-Louis Hurel stood down from his position on the SARIA Executive Board on 30 June 2019. Since 1 July 2019, he has served as new President of RETHMANN France and as a member of the Board of Directors of Transdev and Head of its Audit Committee.

What does Transdev’s strategy for the years ahead look like? This was just one of the many questions discussed by the Transdev Board of Directors and Executive Committee during a two-day strategy meeting held at REMONDIS’ headquarters in Lünen in June 2019. This meeting also offered a perfect opportunity for participants to learn about REMONDIS, SARIA and Rhenus activities while at the same time exchanging information about joint partnership opportunities for the benefit of our customers.

The following people sit on the Transdev Board of Directors: Anne-Marie Couderc (Non-executive Chair of Air France-KLM Group, Former Minister for Employment and  Social Affairs), Thierry Mallet (Chairman and CEO of Transdev), Olivier Sichel (Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Caisse des Dépôts, Director of Banque des Territoires), Virginie Fernandes (Director of the Group Management Department within the Finance, Strategy and Investments division, Member of the Board of Directors at Compagnie des Alpes), Pierre Aubouin (Director of the Department Infrastructure & Transportation at CDC), Delphine Pons (Director of International Development and New Businesses at Compagnie des Alpes), Anne-Sophie Burtin (Representative of CDC), Ludger Rethmann (Board member of RETHMANN Group, CEO of REMONDIS), Dr. Werner Kook (Chief Representative RETHMANN Group), Jean-Louis Hurel (President RETHMANN France), Jean-Michel Fenaut (Employee representative at Transdev Board) and Egbert Tölle (Board member of REMONDIS Group for the international division).

Transdev's Executive Committee is made up of the following members: Thierry Mallet (Chairman and CEO of Transdev), Antoine Colas (General Secretary of Transdev), Marcos Garcia (Group Financial Director of Transdev), Anne de Bagneux (Director of Strategy and Transformation of Transdev), Clément de Villepin (Group Human Resources Director of Transdev), Henrik Behrens (Group Chief Development Officer), Christian Schreyer (CEO Northern and Central Europe), Yann Leriche (CEO Transdev North America and Head of the B2C Business Line and Autonomous Transportation Systems), Edouard Hénaut (CEO France), Bruno Charrade (CEO International Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Middle-East, North Africa and Southern Europe).

Transdev Group Germany held its employee meeting (welcoming more than 100 employees from the Berlin head office) in spring 2019. Ludger Rethmann presented the family-owned company RETHMANN and answered a large number of questions from employees. 

Ludger Rethmann, Board member of RETHMANN Group, CEO of REMONDIS and Vice President of Transdev, visited different activities of the Transdev Group in the Chilean capital Santiago. Transdev has bus operations there with a fleet of more than 800 buses and a successful B2B shuttle business, which provides shuttle services for airlines and other customers in the capital.

Egbert Tölle, Board member of REMONDIS Group and member of the Board of Directors of Transdev Group, hit the road with Luke Agati, new CEO of Transdev Australasia and former CEO of REMONDIS Australia, in Australia and New Zealand. Transdev employs close to 5 800 people in Australia and New Zealand, with bus operations in Melbourne, Perth, Sydney and Brisbane, ferries in Brisbane and Sydney, light rail in Sydney and heavy rail in Auckland and Wellington. The team combined reaches close to 160 million passenger journeys per year. In Sydney, Transdev operates the Inner West Sydney Light Rail system on behalf of its partner Transport for NSW.

Transdev also recently won a EUR815m renewal contract to operate and maintain Sydney Ferries for another nine years until 2028. Some 600 employees are running more than 30 vessels with 16 million passenger journeys each year. Ludger Rethmann, Egbert Tölle and Luke Agati visited the Sydney Ferries with other acquaintances and managers.

During the trip through France, Norbert Rethmann, the Honorary Chairman of the RETHMANN Supervisory Board, and his delegation viewed the innovative services offered by the Transdev Group. One example is the Autonomous Lab in Rouen where vehicles equipped with self-driving technology are already fully operational on public roads. Another highlight was Transdev’s exciting activities featuring innovative and forward-looking mobility services in the Grand Est region (Alsace, Lorraine, Champagne and the Ardennes).

Elsewhere in Europe, the Honorary Chairman of the RETHMANN Supervisory Board, Norbert Rethmann, has travelled to a number of Transdev locations in the Netherlands over the past few weeks, stopping by Apeldoorn, Arnhem and Eindhoven. Transdev operates one of the world’s cleanest bus networks in Eindhoven, which is a European centre of expertise for electromobility. During his recent trip, Egbert Tölle had the chance to test out the electric articulated bus for himself on private company premises - a rewarding experience!

With all of this in mind, we would like to encourage all employees working for the RETHMANN Group (REMONDIS, Rhenus, SARIA) to learn more about Transdev operations within a 50-100 km radius of their own branch and to discuss communal customer contacts with managers on the ground.

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