“ The waste disposal market has changed dramatically” - Interseroh

Eric Schweitzer: Absolutely, the waste disposal market
has changed dramatically in the past few years. Today
the focus lies on recovery of raw materials, whereas
just a few years ago it lay on legally compliant disposal
of wastes. We have one of the leading trading
companies in Europe in our Trading segment. Now we
must use these advantages in the classical disposal
business by generating added value for our customers,
thereby attaining a singular position on the market. In
this way we want to grow profitably further as leading
supplier of raw materials and environmental services.
Why have raw materials trading and waste disposal
been merged? At first glance it would seem there are
more parallels between Waste Operations and the
segment Scrap and Metals Recycling ...
Martin Becker-Rethmann: The disposal market is determined
today by the question of who gets the best prices
on the raw materials market. That decides on who
offers the customer the biggest benefit. It therefore
makes sense to join the two ends of the supply chain –
where do the raw materials come into the ALBA Group
and where do they leave it – together.
Eric Schweitzer: It is also about positioning ourselves
better strategically vis-à-vis our competitors and playing
an active role in determining the further development of
the market. At the same time we are reducing the number
of interfaces with this step and they always involve
inefficiencies. It is now up to the employees in these
segments to use the advantages and to live the idea of
“One ALBA Group” more strongly than in the past.
What does the division of work between you two look
like? How do the managers know who they should
talk to?
Eric Schweitzer (laughs): That‘s easy – when they‘ve got
problems, Martin Becker-Rethmann, when they‘ve got
good news, me. Seriously, though: we both manage the
segment together. But we have naturally divided up the
tasks between each other: Mr Becker-Rethmann will
focus primarily on Trading & Processing, Wood Trade,
Central Eastern Europe and the Waste Operations Region
North-East, whereas I will concentrate on the Waste
Operations Regions West and South.
That does not mean that two segments will develop
again. Strategically we will coordinate our work very
closely with each other and we both bear joint responsibility
for everything.
2 ALBA Group Inside INTERNATIONAL | Issue No. 1, January 2012
Dr Schweitzer, in October we heard that you and
your brother would be withdrawing from work in the
operational segments and would concentrate on your
jobs as chairmen of the Board of Directors. Was that
perhaps too boring for you?
Eric Schweitzer: No, definitely not. As you know, I am
also the honorary president of the chamber of commerce
and industry in Berlin. But our company lies
closer to my heart than anything else and when it is
necessary, I will always be there to take an active part.
There is simply a necessity at the moment to adjust
the structure of our group to the changed conditions on
the markets. And Martin Becker-Rethmann is already
responsible for so many things that I didn‘t want to
load this task on to his shoulders alone. I still get a lot
of pleasure out of aligning our company for the future
and organising things.
Mr Becker-Rethmann, what is your aim for 2012 in
your new role? Where are there the biggest opportunities?
Martin Becker-Rethmann: My personal aim is to mesh
the corporate segments closer together. We also need
to manage the short-term fluctuations in prices on the
raw material markets better and increase our transaction
speed. In concrete terms: if I see that the prices
on the market are changing on the trading side, I can
take that into account when submitting proposals to
customers. Vice versa, we need to look at the material
coming in from the disposal contracts more closely to
see whether it is not possible to recover better qualities
through further separation and which our traders
can then market better.
Development in the Waste Operations segment was
very pleasing in the past few years. It contributes
more than 40 percent to the overall result. The early
retirement of Hermann Holstein from the Board of
Directors was therefore surprising for many ...
Eric Schweitzer: The Waste Operations segment has indeed
developed very successfully. Hermann Holstein’s
departure from the Board therefore has nothing to do
with his management qualities. What we wanted was to
adjust our ALBA Group structure to the changed conditions
on the markets. And that is our job as members
of the Board.
The interview was conducted by Verena Köttker.