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7 million euro fine for waste cartel: Saubermacher in its sights!
On June 16, 2025, a waste management cartel was uncovered in Austria, punishing Saubermacher with 7 million euros.
7 million euro fine for waste cartel: Saubermacher in its sights!
On June 16, 2025, a significant update on the Austrian waste management cartel case was published. A court imposed a fine of 7 million euros on the Saubermacher Services AG, the Trügler Recycling and Transport GesmbH as well as the pink robin gmbh. The Federal Competition Authority (BWB) found that these companies were involved in agreements in the area of waste management that violated antitrust law.
The allegations relate to a period from July 2002 to March 2021. According to the BWB, it was found that the companies engaged in price fixing, market allocation and the exchange of competitively sensitive information. These agreements not only led to the mutual awarding of orders, but also secured the market shares of the companies involved. Saubermacher is said to have processed around a million orders in Austria during the investigation period.
Investigations and raids
The investigation into the garbage cartel case became public in March 2021 after raids took place at more than 20 locations in Austria. These house searches affected companies such as Energie AG, Saubermacher AG and Brantner. Suspicions of illegal agreements were expressed that were intended to cause significant damage to competition, waste management associations, communities and citizens.
A year after the first raids, additional searches were carried out based on leniency applications and whistleblower reports. In connection with these investigations, the BWB submitted an application to the cartel court against the on February 15, 2024 FCC Austria Waste Service AG because of similar illegitimate practices. FCC participated in an Austria-wide cartel between July 2002 and March 2021 and cooperated extensively with the BWB as part of the leniency program.
Leniency program and compliance
By cooperating with the BWB and acknowledging the facts, FCC received immunity under the leniency program, which helped speed up the proceedings. The BWB was able to secure extensive evidence, including over 60 TB of IT data and over 2,000 physical documents.
As a result of the violations identified, BWB and Saubermacher identified around 80 cases that were problematic under antitrust law. Saubermacher stated that these cases were “unacceptable” from an antitrust and ethical perspective. The company announced that it would sharpen its compliance management system to prevent future incidents.
Waste management in Austria includes around 300 companies and has an annual turnover of over five billion euros. The six largest companies together generate around two billion euros. The BWB is continuing to investigate other companies in the sector and has not yet conclusively investigated all possible violations.