It is the parent company of the international groups Remondis (recycling, service, water management), Rhenus (logistics) and Saria (processing of animal by-products and organic waste).

[2][3] The company is equally owned by the four brothers Klemens, Ludger, Georg and Martin Rethmann.

[2][8] In 1934, Josef Rethmann laid the foundation for the family business by taking over a railway freight forwarder and a haulage company that also was responsible for ash disposal for some households in Selm.

[9] After winning a tender, this contract was extended to cover the entire town in 1959 — thus laying the foundations for the Remondis Group.

[5] Following Niehues' fatal accident in the summer of 2008, Reinhard Lohmann, a graduate in business administration, took over as CEO on October 1, 2008.