Recycling Lives agrees sale of metal recycling and waste management businesses

Following a strategic review process throughout 2023, the company has confirmed that the two divisions (which includes ELV recycling) will be sold to an unnamed company as part of a pre-pack sale.

Recycling Lives Services will continue to provide all the services it has previously offered, focusing on compliance services, brokered environmental waste solutions and commodities. The company added that it will continued to deliver “authentic social value in all our operations”.

There is also no impact on the Recycling Lives Charity, the Prison Academy program will continue through Recycling Lives Services and its partnership with the charity.

Sale

The sale is thought to have been brought on due to the difficult macro-economic factors as well as a fire at the company’s Preston site in March 2023.

The strategic review also led to the sale of one of its Glasgow metals recycling sites in December. Today’s move completes the separation of the metals business from Recycling Lives Services.

Recycling Lives stressed that separation of the business “represents the best possible solution for both divisions of the business going forward” and remain “optimistic about the long-term opportunity”.

Recycling Lives

Preston-headquartered Recycling Lives was founded in 1977 and prior to today, operated over five business units: vehicle processing, metal processing, skip hire, producer responsibility compliance offering WEEE, packaging & batteries and Environmental Services.

Today’s move will see vehicle and metal processing sold off as well as the waste management.

Recycling Lives positioned itself as the largest ELV recycler in the UK. This includes a nationwide service recycling over 150,000 cars and generating about 500,000 tonnes of high quality green steel a year.

The company had 23 sites across the UK,  including 17 processing sites and six domestic access sites.

Independent

A spokesperson from Recycling Lives Services said: “We can confirm that the operations of Recycling Lives’ Services businesses, Recycling Lives (Environmental Services) Limited and Recycling Lives Compliance Services Limited, are now operating independently of Recycling Lives Group. Recycling Lives Services continues to provide all the services it has previously offered with the same commitment to delivering authentic social value in all our operations.”