The Dutch Consumers and Markets Authority (ACM) prohibits the acquisition of Waste Processing Rijnmond’s (AVR) Amsterdam waste processing company AEB. According to the regulator, too powerful a company would be created if the takeover goes through. And that would lead to higher prices, for example, for the treatment of household waste.
“The municipalities of the provinces of Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland and Utrecht in particular should pay more after the merger of these companies,” says Martijn Snoep, chairman of the board of ACM. He explains that there are not enough alternatives to AEB and AVR in the west of the country. ‘And it costs more to transport household waste to waste processors further away. The AVR/AEB combination could therefore raise prices for household waste treatment. Then the waste tax will increase for the inhabitants of those municipalities.
Offer
AVR had previously made a €450m offer for the Amsterdam branch, which has been in turbulent times. In 2019, due to overdue maintenance work and internal disputes, the company came under such pressure that four of the six incinerators had to be closed and a waste tank was created from Amsterdam, but also from other parts of the country . The municipality repeatedly provided financial support to keep AEB afloat and finally decided to put the company up for sale.
Disagreement
Amsterdam councilor Reinier van Dantzig regrets the judgment of the watchdog of the competition. ‘This is obviously also very annoying for AEB and its employees. As a result and because it is now again uncertain what the future of AEB’ is, he writes in a letter to the city council of the capital. According to Van Dantzig, the municipality does not agree with ACM’s reasoning. However, while technically there is still the possibility for the AVR to appeal, such an appeal would not result in the suspension of ACM’s decision. The deal will therefore certainly not go through, said the commissioner.
Van Dantzig now wants to make a new decision on the future of waste treatment within a few weeks. ‘Following ACM’s decision, the choice is once again whether the municipality wants to keep AEB or still wants to sell it,’ he explains. He further points out that the Amsterdammer does not notice anything. According to him, AEB will continue to treat waste as before. There will also be no changes to the company’s heat supply to Westpoort Warmte.
Source: BNR
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