The history of FES GmbH
Since our foundation in 1996 from the Office for Waste Management and City Cleaning, we have developed into the leading full-service provider for waste disposal and cleaning in the Rhine-Main region. But cleaning, tidying and waste disposal were already happening in Frankfurt much earlier.
In the 19th century
Waste disposal becomes a municipal responsibility
| 1855 | The city of Frankfurt awards the first contracts to farmers for the removal of refuse. |
| 1873 | The municipal transport office begins operations on 1 April. From now on, it uses the city's own fleet of vehicles to collect household and street waste. Horse-drawn carts are used as a means of transport. |
| 1888 | The city employs seven supervisors, eight department heads, 108 street sweepers and 37 road maintenance workers for street cleaning. |
| 1889 | The city of Frankfurt am Main acquires the Luisenhof – later to become the headquarters of the FES. |
Into the 20th century
Large machinery and recycling
| 1954 | The municipal cleaning office becomes its own department. Sweeping and waste collection vehicles converted from former military vehicles are used. The Luisenhof in Frankfurt-Bornheim serves as the operations depot. |
| 1965 | With the new district Nordweststadt, the present waste-to-energy plant (then: waste incineration plant) is built and is continuously updated with the latest technology. |
| 1986 | The paper recycling bin is introduced throughout the city of Frankfurt. |
| 1988 | The first citywide mobile collection of small quantities of hazardous waste is launched. |
| 1992 | The yellow recycling bin is introduced throughout the city of Frankfurt. |
| 1994 | The waste incineration plant is renovated. |
FES
Entering the new millennium with a public-private partnership (PPP)
| 1995 | The FES Frankfurter Entsorgungs- und Service GmbH (FES GmbH) was founded from the Office for Waste Management and City Cleaning. |
| 1996 | On January 1, FES GmbH began its operational business. |
| 1998 | The family-owned company REMONDIS AG & Co. KG took over 49% of FES GmbH from the City of Frankfurt and became a public-private partnership (PPP) company. |
| The organic waste bin was introduced throughout the entire city area of Frankfurt. | |
| 1999 | The biological waste treatment plant started operations. |
| 2000 | FES GmbH bought the waste transfer station from Rhein Main Abfall GmbH. |
| The slag processing plant was relocated from the Frankfurt Eastern Harbor to the site of the Rhein-Main landfill in Flörsheim-Wicker. | |
| The Flughafen Service GmbH (FSG) was founded on the grounds of Frankfurt Airport to handle airport disposal services. | |
| 2002 | The logistics company FES Abfallmanagement und Service GmbH (FAS GmbH) was founded as a 100% subsidiary of FES GmbH. |
| 2003 | The most modern waste paper sorting plant in Europe began operations. The plant is operated by FES GmbH. |
| FES GmbH acquired the majority shares of the Frankfurt sidewalk cleaning company Dr. Feiler and Co. oHG. | |
| 2004 | The renovation of the waste incineration plant in Nordweststadt began while still in operation. The plant became the Frankfurt am Main waste-to-energy plant. |
| 2005 | The slag processing plant was rebuilt and optimized. |
| 2006 | MHKW GmbH was founded as the operating company of the waste-to-energy plant. Shareholders are FES GmbH and Mainova AG in equal parts. |
| The Frankfurt sidewalk cleaning company Dr. Feiler and Co. oHG became a 100% subsidiary of FES GmbH and took over all cleaning services and winter services in the third‑party business under the name FFR GmbH. | |
| The commercial waste sorting plant began operations in the Frankfurt Eastern Harbor. | |
| 2008 | The slag processing plant was modernized. |
| The FAS GmbH moved to its new branch location on Ferdinand‑Porsche‑Strasse 27. | |
| 2009 | The FES Service Center moved into new premises at Liebfrauenberg 52–54. |
| After completion of the renovation work, the waste‑to‑energy plant was officially reopened on September 18 by Mayor Petra Roth. | |
| The FFR GmbH expanded its service area to Mainz and Wiesbaden and opened a branch in Wiesbaden. | |
| 2011 | A photovoltaic system, the largest in Hesse, was installed on the former municipal waste landfill in Dreieich‑Buchschlag. It is operated by RMS Rhein Main Solarpark GmbH, a subsidiary of FES GmbH and Stadtwerke Dreieich GmbH. |
| One of the largest photovoltaic plants in Frankfurt am Main was installed on the roof of the biological waste treatment plant of RMB GmbH, along with a small wind turbine. | |
| 2012 | The trunk service was expanded to include the recycling center North in the Kalbach‑Riedberg district. |
| 2013 | The pilot project “Recycling Bin” started in Frankfurt am Main. |
| The new hazardous waste intermediate storage was put into operation. | |
| The slag processing plant was rebuilt and expanded. It is now the most modern of its kind in Europe. | |
| 2014 | An on‑site daycare center was opened on the premises of the Weidenbornstraße site. |
| TRAPP GmbH was dissolved and integrated into FES GmbH. TRAPP document destruction is now a brand of FES. | |
| FFR GmbH expanded its service area again and opened a branch in Darmstadt. | |
| 2016 | FES celebrated its 20th anniversary. |
| The underground car park in Frankfurt‑Heddernheim was renovated. | |
| 2017 | RMB GmbH built a second fermenter and thus nearly doubled its capacity. |
| 2018 | Crude biogas is processed into biomethane at RMB and fed into the Mainova AG gas network. FES was the princely house of the 2018/2019 carnival campaign. The waste‑to‑energy plant received a new noise protection enclosure. |
| FES was the princely house of the 2018/2019 carnival campaign. | |
| The waste‑to‑energy plant received a new noise protection enclosure. | |
| TRAPP document destruction became FES document destruction. | |
| 2019 | The initiative cup2gether handed over its reusable cup deposit system to FES. #MainBecher was launched. |
| FES applied for funding to purchase five fully electric garbage trucks and received €2.35 million from the Federal Ministry of Transport. | |
| The pilot project “weekly organic waste bin emptying” started for two years in the summer months in selected districts. | |
| 2020 | FES began chipping waste bins for residents and introducing a container identification system for commercial customers. |
| FES equipped all garbage trucks with electronic turning assistants. The FES workshop for commercial vehicles took over maintenance and repair for external companies. | |
| After an EU‑wide tender for the 49% shares in FES, REMONDIS was awarded the contract and remains a partner of the City of Frankfurt am Main. | |
| 2021 | FES celebrated its 25th anniversary. |
| The West recycling center moved to Palleskestr. 36a and expanded the disposal services. | |
| The City of Frankfurt and FES Frankfurter Entsorgungs- und Service GmbH created a new city cleaning unit: #cleanffm Express. | |
| Due to the ongoing pandemic, the pilot project weekly organic waste collection continued in the test districts. | |
| RECYCLIST – the online magazine for sustainability was published at recyclist‑magazin.de. | |
| FES, together with GWR GmbH, began collecting still usable electronic devices under the name reYours to sell them at low cost. A zero waste project. | |
| 2022 | The pilot project weekly organic waste collection continued into its fourth year, albeit in different districts. |
| FES built company apartments at Höchst station. The total 52 apartments are expected to be ready in 2024. The company FES Wohnen und Leben mbH was founded to manage rentals. | |
| FES offered a new service in Frankfurt initially in Bornheim, Nordend and Seckbach: Klamoddekurier – free collection of old clothing. | |
| FES deployed cleanliness ambassadors together with #cleanffm to provide broad information about “Clean City.” | |
| The Zero Waste Lab went online – a think tank integrating citizen participation and connecting regional business and science with FES and the City of Frankfurt. | |
| Even before the reusable mandate came into force, #MainBecher started a one‑off cooperation with the digital reusable system Vytal, known from “The Lion’s Den” TV show. Waste reduction in the take‑away sector became even easier for residents of Frankfurt. | |
| 2025 | The FES Service Center moved to the Insel for Climate and Sustainability, Zeil 129 (Hauptwache); the Liebfrauenberg location was closed. |
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