AVAG Umwelt AG

AVAG Umwelt AG (AVAG) is a Swiss waste management, recycling and energy company headquartered in Thun in the Canton of Bern. It is majority-owned by around 130 municipalities of the Canton of Bern and holds a public mandate to process and recover the waste generated by those municipalities. Its central asset is the Kehrichtverwertungsanlage (KVA) Thun, a waste-to-energy plant whose waste heat is used to produce electricity, process steam and district heating; the district heating feeds the Thun regional network. Beyond thermal recovery, AVAG provides comprehensive disposal and recycling services for municipalities, private individuals and commercial and industrial customers. The company was founded in 1973 as AG für Abfallverwertung AVAG by seven Bernese municipalities and two private gravel companies, in response to a legal obligation requiring municipalities to dispose of waste at official, environmentally sound landfill sites. AVAG built new landfills in exhausted gravel pits with base sealing to prevent pollutants from reaching groundwater. Within the first year the number of connected municipalities grew to 15, with 28,352 tonnes of waste landfilled. In the 1990s, as calls grew for a ban on landfilling municipal waste in Switzerland, AVAG planned a pyrolysis plant (Schwelbrennanlage) on the Kleine Allmend site in Thun, modelled on a plant then under construction in Fürth. Public opposition over traffic and unproven technology led AVAG to abandon that project in 1998 and instead plan a smaller conventional waste-to-energy plant. After further opposition and a Federal Court ruling in 2001 dismissing all complaints, construction began and the KVA Thun was commissioned in 2003. This opened a new business field: thermal recovery of municipal, commercial and industrial waste produces heat used for electricity, process steam and district heating, with the KVA Thun producing roughly one third of the city of Thun's annual electricity demand. The two founding gravel companies withdrew as shareholders, replaced by ARA Thunersee and Berner Energiewerke (EWB), while the roughly 130 municipalities in the catchment area held the majority of shares. AVAG continued to expand sustainable energy activities. In 2011 the Oberland Energie AG, founded by AVAG and a partner and operated by AVAG, inaugurated the Spiez biomass centre, producing quality compost and sustainable energy from biomass via a fermentation plant, a composting facility and a waste and residual wood heating plant; it received the Swiss Federal Office of Energy's "Watt D'Or" award in 2012 in the renewable energies category. In 2017 AVAG received the "naturemade resources star" for ecological electricity production and its modern metal recycling process at the KVA Thun. In 2018 AVAG, together with regional utilities NetZulg AG and Energie Thun AG, founded Fernwärme Thun AG to build and expand a regional district heating network; the first buildings in Thun were connected in 2022, and by 2024 the network had around 26 km of pipes delivering 68,070 MWh of district heating. In 2017 AVAG, Terra Nova GmbH and Schweizer Zucker AG founded Holzraftwerk Aarberg AG, and in 2021 one of Switzerland's largest and most innovative wood-fired power plants was inaugurated, operated by AVAG and capable of recovering used wood of all classes into CO2-neutral energy. AVAG is a founding member of the 2022 "Verein zur Dekarbonisierung der Industrie" and in 2025 commissioned a unique methane pyrolysis plant on the V-Zug site. At the end of 2025 AVAG announced, with the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport and Ruag Real Estate AG, an electricity grid partnership under which the Thun weapons range's electricity demand will be fully covered by power from the KVA Thun from 2027.

AVAG Umwelt AG was founded in 1973 as AG für Abfallverwertung AVAG by seven Bernese municipalities and two private gravel companies. The trigger was the legal landfill obligation that required municipalities to dispose of waste at official and environmentally compatible landfill sites. AVAG built new landfills in exhausted gravel pits with a base seal so that pollutants could no longer reach groundwater. In the first year the number of connected municipalities grew to 15, with 28,352 tonnes of waste professionally landfilled. In the 1990s, calls grew louder in Switzerland for a ban on landfilling municipal waste. In 1995 AVAG therefore planned to build a pyrolysis plant (Schwelbrennanlage, SBA) on the Kleine Allmend area in Thun, modelled on the municipal pyrolysis plant then under construction in Fürth. In the following years public resistance to the project grew, with criticism that it would increase traffic and that the untested SBA technology could cause air pollution. In 1998 AVAG abandoned the project and instead planned a smaller waste-to-energy plant (KVA) using conventional technology. The Thun population also opposed this. Because of rising waste volumes and the ban on landfilling combustible waste that came into force on 1 January 2000, however, there was an urgent need in Switzerland for additional waste-to-energy plants. In 2001 the Federal Court dismissed all complaints against the KVA Thun, after which construction could begin. The plant was commissioned in 2003. This also opened a new business field: thermal recovery of municipal, commercial and industrial waste produces heat that is used to generate electricity, process steam and district heating. The KVA Thun produces, among other things, roughly one third of the city of Thun's annual electricity demand. Because of this realignment, the two gravel companies that had been shareholders since the founding withdrew. In their place ARA Thunersee and Berner Energiewerke (EWB) took stakes, while the roughly 130 municipalities in the catchment area held the majority of shares. AVAG continued to expand sustainable energy. In 2011 Oberland Energie AG, founded by AVAG and a partner and operated by AVAG, inaugurated the Spiez biomass centre. There, a fermentation plant, a composting facility and a waste and residual wood heating plant have since produced quality compost and sustainable energy for the region from biomass. For the recycling system and the associated saving of fossil fuels, Oberland Energie AG was awarded the "Watt D'Or" prize by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy in 2012 in the "Renewable Energies" category. In 2017 AVAG received the "naturemade resources star" from the Association for Environmentally Sound Energy for ecological electricity production and the technically highly modern metal recycling process at the KVA Thun. Together with the Hagenholz waste incineration plant in Zurich, the KVA Thun thus became one of the first waste-to-energy plants in Switzerland to receive this seal. The following year AVAG founded Fernwärme Thun AG together with the regional energy suppliers NetZulg AG and Energie Thun AG, responsible for building and expanding a regional district heating network. In 2022 the first buildings in Thun were connected to the joint district heating network, which has been continuously expanded since. In 2024 Fernwärme Thun AG had around 26 km of district heating pipes and delivered 68,070 MWh of district heating to properties in the Thun, Steffisburg, Uetendorf and Heimberg area, equivalent to an annual saving of around 7 million litres of heating oil. In 2017 AVAG founded Holzraftwerk Aarberg AG together with Terra Nova GmbH and Schweizer Zucker AG. In 2021 one of Switzerland's largest and most innovative wood-fired power plants was inaugurated. Operated by AVAG, thanks to comprehensive flue gas cleaning it can recover used wood of all classes into CO2-neutral energy instead of having to export it. The main buyer of the energy is the neighbouring Schweizer Zucker AG, which has thereby been able to significantly reduce its use of fossil fuels. As a founding member of the "Verein zur Dekarbonisierung der Industrie" founded in 2022, AVAG researches solutions for sustainable industrial energy supply together with partners. In 2025 a previously unique methane pyrolysis plant was commissioned on the V-Zug site. At the end of 2025 AVAG Umwelt AG also announced, together with the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport and Ruag Real Estate AG, the founding of an electricity grid partnership. From 2027 the electricity demand of the Thun weapons range is to be fully covered by electricity from AVAG Umwelt AG's KVA Thun. AVAG also expanded recycling alongside its landfills.

• 2025

  Methane pyrolysis plant commissioned on the V-Zug site; electricity grid partnership announced for the Thun weapons range from 2027.

• 2024

  Fernwärme Thun AG operates around 26 km of district heating pipes, delivering 68,070 MWh.

• 2022

  Renamed AVAG Umwelt AG; first buildings connected to the Thun district heating network; founding member of the "Verein zur Dekarbonisierung der Industrie".

• 2021

  One of Switzerland's largest and most innovative wood-fired power plants inaugurated in Aarberg.

• 2018

  Fernwärme Thun AG founded with NetZulg AG and Energie Thun AG.

• 2017

  AVAG receives the "naturemade resources star"; Holzraftwerk Aarberg AG founded with Terra Nova GmbH and Schweizer Zucker AG.

• 2012

  Oberland Energie AG receives the "Watt D'Or" award in the renewable energies category.

• 2011

  Oberland Energie AG inaugurates the Spiez biomass centre.

• 2003

  KVA Thun waste-to-energy plant commissioned, opening the energy business field.

• 2001

  Federal Court dismisses all complaints against the KVA Thun, allowing construction to begin.

• 1998

  Pyrolysis project abandoned; AVAG plans a smaller conventional waste-to-energy plant instead.

• 1995

  AVAG plans a pyrolysis plant (Schwelbrennanlage) on the Kleine Allmend site in Thun.

• 1974

  Number of connected municipalities grows to 15; 28,352 tonnes of waste landfilled in the first year.

• 1973

  Founded as AG für Abfallverwertung AVAG by seven Bernese municipalities and two private gravel companies.

Regionally leading disposal, recycling and energy company for around 130 municipalities and commercial/industrial customers, focused on closing material cycles and the regional energy transition.

• Waste disposal and recycling services

  Comprehensive disposal and recycling services for municipalities, private individuals and commercial and industrial customers.

• KVA Thun waste-to-energy plant

  Thermal recovery of municipal, commercial and industrial waste producing electricity, process steam and district heating; produces roughly one third of Thun's annual electricity demand.

• District heating network

  Operated via Fernwärme Thun AG; around 26 km of pipes delivering 68,070 MWh in 2024.

• Biomass centre Spiez

  Fermentation plant, composting facility and waste/residual wood heating producing quality compost and sustainable energy.

• Holzkraftwerk Aarberg wood-fired power plant

  One of Switzerland's largest and most innovative wood-fired power plants, recovering used wood of all classes into CO2-neutral energy.

• Landfill operation

  Landfills built in exhausted gravel pits with base sealing to protect groundwater.

1. 1AVAG Umwelt AG | Wir machen aus gestern morgenavag.ch
2. 2AVAG Umwelt – Wikipediade.wikipedia.org
3. 3Wikidata Q139671870wikidata.org