C.C. Umwelt

Who owns C.C. Umwelt?

C.C. Umwelt was owned by Novum Capital Management through Novum Capital Special Opportunities Fund I (2017 vintage) from 2017 to 2021, exited via Trade Sale.

Buyer identity available on Pro.

Hand-verified · updated 2026-08-10

About C.C. Umwelt

C.C. Umwelt is a Krefeld-based environmental services company and one of Germany's leading full-service specialists for the disposal, treatment and recycling of waste-incineration residues. Its core business spans three areas, the processing and recycling of incineration bottom ash (slag), the disposal of flue-gas cleaning residues (filter dust) in underground backfill mines, and the treatment and disposal of special mineral waste, with metal recovery returning aluminium, copper, gold and silver from municipal slag to the commercial cycle. The group runs its own processing and recycling operations from its headquarters at the Rhine harbour in Krefeld, alongside further sites at Hagen, Wuerzburg and Schwandorf. At the time of its 2017 buyout the company employed around 150 people and generated revenue of roughly EUR 100 million, positioning it as a technology-oriented player in the German circular economy.

Ownership journey

C.C. Umwelt traces its roots to 1969 and was built up over decades by founder Manfred Wierichs before its ownership passed into charitable and family foundations linked to him. In 2017 Novum Capital acquired the business through its Special Opportunities Fund I, with the transaction effective as of 1 January 2018, buying the company from three charitable foundations and three family foundations of the founder. Novum Capital held C.C. Umwelt as its main shareholder over the following years, backing a modernisation program while retaining the incumbent management. The fund exited in 2021 via a trade sale, ending its ownership after roughly four years.

Under PE ownership

Under Novum Capital's ownership C.C. Umwelt pursued a capital investment and modernisation agenda aimed at raising the effectiveness and efficiency of its plants. In March 2019 the company commissioned a multimillion-euro dual-pass non-ferrous metal separator at its Hagen site, using optimised screening technology to extract recyclable metals from incineration slag more efficiently and lift recovery rates. Management framed the upgrade as a step change in efficiency that supported resource conservation and lower CO2 emissions, reinforcing the group's positioning as a technology leader in the German circular economy. The investment period also saw continued spending across the recycling and processing network before the sponsor's exit in 2021.