The plant – which is capable of processing 39,000 tonnes a year – closed earlier this year, with its processing volume being redirected to the waste management company’s Redcar site.
It primarily processed High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP).
James McLeary, Managing Director of Biffa Polymers, said: “Domestic, regional and global conditions played roles in the decision. The global economic climate, the regional competitive conditions in terms of power and labour costs, and the domestic concerns in the regulatory environment are all currently not conducive to UK recycling, and contributed to this decision.
“However, as a core part of the Biffa strategy, recycling of plastic will be important for many years to come, and we will continue to assess and respond to market conditions to ensure that our facilities are appropriate for the environment and have the flexibility to grow as demand does.”
The creation of the Washington site was first announced in 2020 with an initial investment of £7 million. It became operational in late 2021.
Biffa will continue to operate its other UK plastic recycling plants located in Redcar, Seaham and Sherburn.
The closure of the plant is likely to see more plastic material being exported for processing.
Plastics market
The closure comes at a time of uncertainty for the market, with Viridor also announcing the closure of its Avonmouth mechanical polymers recycling plant in November 2024.
A spokesperson for the company said at the time: “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.”
On 4 January 2025, a fire was reported to have started in a recycling compactor at the Biffa site in Aldridge. Although no injuries were reported, the temporary closure of the site has led to a drop in demand.
Despite months of instability following the announcement of the Viridor closure, the plastics market plateaued at the start of the month with July prices comparable to those of June.
The price of some grades had come down slightly in the last month, which was expected to continue into August.
Other factors impacting the market include the seasonal shutdowns of factories in Europe which have temporarily stopped taking material, meaning that there is a lot of availability in the market at present.
Veolia confirmed at the start of the month that it will invest £70 million to convert a disused industrial facility at Battlefield, near Shrewsbury, into a high-capacity plastics sorting and recycling plant.
The site is set to process 80,000 tonnes of plastic annually and create over 130 permanent jobs in addition to those required during construction. Operations are scheduled to begin in early 2026.
Biffa made two calls to the UK government:
- Phase out the export of unprocessed plastic waste so the UK manages its own waste. Exporting unprocessed plastic waste sends jobs, raw materials and environmental risk abroad, and undermines the UK’s domestic recycling sector, fuelling a race to the bottom.
- Implement more progressive demand side measures, including:
- Raising the Plastic Packaging Tax (PPT) threshold progressively to 50% recycled content by 2030 (up from the current 30%).
- Cracking down on bogus imports of non-recycled materials passed off as recycled.
See the full letsrecycle.com plastics prices for July here.
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