Viridor has announced the closure of its plastics reprocessing facility in Avonmouth, Bristol, following a strategic review.
“Viridor’s UK mechanical recycling operations have been negatively impacted by persistently and increasingly challenging market conditions, and the absence of planned legislation to increase rates of plastic recycling in the UK,” said the company.Despite expanding production over the last four years, Viridor said stagnant recycling rates and repeated delays to the resources and waste strategy have led to the decision.
“The significant delay in implementing these policies, combined with reduced demand for recycled plastic and packaging products from the consumer goods sector, have had a material impact on the financial viability of Viridor’s UK mechanical recycling operations.”
The Labour government is reviewing the previous administration's waste reforms, though it has indicated it will go ahead with extended producer responsbility for packaging and the deposit return scheme for drinks containers. A separate review of the company’s Rochester facility is ongoing, while it is exploring redeployment opportunities for those affected by the Avonmouth closure.
The news comes just a day after the announcement that plastics recycler QC Polymer had entered administration, with business recovery specialists pointing the finger at high utility costs.
Plastic recyclers in Europe have reported a lack of demand for recycled material, reduced investment in domestic recycling and a rise in unverified imports as “suffocating” the sector in recent months.
Viridor today said the global virgin polymer market was suffering from overcapacity due to production from lower-cost markets outside Europe. More of this article (MRW) - link - more like this (plastics) - link - more like this (Viridor) - link
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