Ragn-Sells - a history

1881 The origins of the Ragn-Sells of today can be traced right back to the year 1881, when Amandus Zakarias Leonard Sellberg started “Sellbergs häståkeri”, a horse-drawn haulage firm, at Odengatan 45 in Stockholm. Amandus Zakarias eventually married Julia Axelia Häggberg, who lived at Väderholmen farm in Sollentuna (Ragn-Sells’ current head office).

1928 At Väderholmen farm, Amandus and Julia’s son, Ragnar Sellberg, began a waste collection company for home-owners. Operations continued alongside the haulage firm in Stockholm.

1933 Ragnar became CEO of Sellbergs. The firm owned some 100 horses by this point, but they were gradually replaced with vehicles. In conjunction with a generation shift and the distribution of the estate, Sellbergs was sold to Promotion within Swedish bank Handelsbanken in 1963-65. Waste management now became a smaller part of the business. Despite this, Sellbergs was the largest waste management company in Sweden. Ragnar Sellberg stayed on as CEO of AZ Sellbergs Åkeri AB for a period following the sale.

In 1966, Ragnar began to devote himself full-time to his new company, AB Norrtrim, which grew rapidly within the waste management sector.

1968 The group of companies changed its name to Ragn-Sells AB.

1973 Ragnar Sellberg resigned as CEO to become Chairman of the Board.

1989 A year that saw considerable turbulence within the industry. Sellbergs was sold again, this time to PLM. Ragn-Sells established itself in Norway via the acquisition of Norsk Renovasjon AS, a company that provided industrial waste management services in the Oslo area. Ragn-Sells was voted service company of the year by Swedish business daily Dagens Industri and service companies association Tjänsteförbundet, proof of the Group’s strong focus on service.

1991 Ragnar Sellberg’s foundation for research, development and knowledge distribution within the field of waste was set up.

1992 Ragn-Sells launched operations in Estonia, while the company continued to grow via Sweden’s biggest privatisation within the waste management industry: the acquisition of Malmö city’s waste plant.

1994 Ragn-Sells launched its new motto, “Part of the ecocycle”. The company introduced new, cohesive branding on vehicles and work uniforms.

1997 Ragn-Sells entered the Danish market.

2001 The company made its debut in Poland.

2003 Sätra Gård was opened – a new conference and meeting venue for customers and staff.

2004 The first year of operations in Latvia. Väderholmen farm was pulled down to make way for new offices. New work uniforms for waste management staff were introduced.

2007 The Ragn-Sells Group achieved a turnover of SEK 4 billion.

2008 Erik Sellberg became the new President. The King and Queen visited Högbytorp recycling centre.

2010 Establishment of Ragn-Sellsföretagen AB.

2011 The fuel factory in Estonia was officially opened by the Mayor of Tallinn. Work was completed on the company’s new office and recycling centre in Kekava, Latvia. The recycling plant at Borgeskogen outside Oslo was officially opened.

2012 Saw the official opening of the rubber granules plant in Vänersborg.

2013 Ragn-Sells Recyclables AB was established, an agent company with responsibility for sales, trading and logistics solutions for the most common waste products. The company is an agent for all the various companies and subsidiaries within Ragn-Sellsföretagen.