ALBA Group

ALBA Group is a German recycling and environmental-services company founded in Berlin in 1968. Its official history says that civil engineer Franz Josef Schweitzer and his wife, Ursula, started the business on 3 September with six employees and two trucks. The company began as a waste-disposal business and developed an approach centred on treating discarded materials as potential sources of recoverable raw materials. The company’s activities include recycling, environmental services and raw-material supply. Its public materials describe collection and recovery of materials such as glass, paper and cardboard, as well as the processing of steel and metal scrap. ALBA also offers container ordering and presents waste collection and recycling as part of its day-to-day operations. Its stated aim is to close material loops and reduce reliance on newly extracted primary resources. ALBA says it pioneered separated collection of recyclable materials in Berlin in the early 1970s. Its company history calls the approach the “Berliner Modell”: sorting materials such as glass, paper and cardboard into separate streams so they can be recovered. The company says this model is now used across Germany. Its current public positioning links recycling and circular-economy work with climate protection, resource security and a clean, sustainable future. The official company profile describes ALBA as one of Europe’s leading businesses in recycling, environmental services and raw-material supply. It reports that in 2023 the company had 5,900 employees and revenue of €1.35 billion. These figures are company-reported and refer to 2023. ALBA’s homepage describes it as an innovative family business and identifies Dr. Eric Schweitzer as a shareholder. The supplied evidence does not establish the company’s current headquarters, full ownership structure, or a complete list of its operating markets.

ALBA Group traces its origins to a Berlin waste-disposal business founded on 3 September 1968. The company’s official history names civil engineer Franz Josef Schweitzer and his wife, Ursula, as founders and says they began with six employees and two trucks. ALBA’s later account frames the founding idea as an early recognition that discarded products and materials could be used as sources of raw materials rather than treated only as waste. The company’s historical account identifies separated collection as an important early development. In the early 1970s, ALBA began collecting glass, paper and cardboard separately in Berlin. Its account connects this work to the development of the “Berliner Modell,” a system that separates recyclable material by type to support recovery. The company says that this method is now used across Germany. Its history also records the introduction of an early skip-container truck in 1970 and a large container displayed in Berlin in 1980. In 1991, ALBA supported local sport by becoming the main sponsor of BG Charlottenburg, whose basketball team adopted the name ALBA BERLIN. The official history also records Franz Josef Schweitzer’s role in founding KINDerLEBEN, an association supporting a clinic for children with cancer, in 1997. These items appear in the company’s history as examples of its community involvement; they are not evidence that the sports team or association is part of the recycling company. ALBA’s present-day corporate description focuses on recycling, environmental services and raw-material supply. It describes the recovery and processing of materials as a way to close resource loops and reduce the need for primary raw materials. The homepage specifically highlights steel and metal scrap processing, while the company’s vision page presents circular economy and recycling as contributions to a cleaner, more sustainable future. The company reports that it had 5,900 employees and revenue of €1.35 billion in 2023. It also reports that its recycling activities avoided around 1.4 million tonnes of greenhouse-gas emissions in 2023 compared with primary production. These are company-reported figures. The supplied sources do not provide a verified current headquarters, a complete ownership history, or a detailed chronology of later corporate transactions, so those matters are not asserted here.

• 2023

  Company reports operating and emissions figures

• 1997

  KINDERLEBEN founded

• 1991

  ALBA becomes main sponsor of BG Charlottenburg

• 1980

  Large container attracts public attention in Berlin

• 1976

  Separated collection and the Berliner Modell

• 1970

  Early container truck enters service

• 1968

  ALBA founded in Berlin

A recycling and environmental-services business focused on circularity, recovering raw materials from discarded products, and contributing to resource security and climate protection.

• Recycling and material recovery

  Services to recover usable materials from waste and return them to material cycles.

• Steel and metal scrap processing

  Processing and recycling of steel and metal scrap, highlighted on the company homepage.

• Waste collection and containers

  The homepage offers container ordering and directs users to ALBA locations and contacts.

• Environmental services and raw-material supply

  The company describes these as core areas alongside recycling.

1. 1ALBA - Wir sind die Zukunft.alba.info
2. 2Unsere Geschichte. Unser Weg.alba.info
3. 3Pionier in Sachen Rohstoffsicherungalba.info
4. 4Was uns antreibtalba.info