With its recently announced partial acquisition of the waste disposal business of Suez (Paris / France; www.suez-environnement.com) in the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany and Poland, German waste disposal service provider PreZero (Porta Westfalica; www.prezero.com) is pursuing its growth course on an international basis. In addition to the transactions in the four countries, the company has purchased Suez’s waste disposal and recycling business in Sweden in its entirety.

PreZero, the environmental division of the German Schwarz Group, which is the parent of retail chains Kaufland and Lidl, is thus moving into the northern European market. Recycling already has a high priority in Sweden’s waste management strategy, which will allow Schwarz to contributing its own expertise while at the same time benefiting from its existing know-how to help speed up the development of a sustainable recycling economy in Europe, said Thomas Kyriakis, a PreZero board member.

Suez claims to be one of the leading waste management companies in Sweden with around 1,100 local employees. The deal with PreZero is expected to be completed by the end of the year, subject to approval of the authorities and the standard closing conditions.