Richardson, which has its head office in St. Helens, Merseyside is a “specialist glass reclamation company” and has become more active in the cullet collection market over the past year. It has been seeking councl contracts and last year gave a presentation to the local authority organisation, Larac.
Richardson is the largest recycler and reprocessor of flat glass in the UK and its sale includes a nationwide network of depot and treatment facilities. These tie in with Viridor's existing waste management activities in the North West and Scotland as well as complementing its local authority contracts.
Turnover
In 2001 Richardson had a turnover of 7m and the acquisition is expected to enhance the earnings performance of Viridor in the first full year of ownership.
Commenting on the acquisition Colin Drummond, chief executive of Viridor Waste, said, “This is a natural extension of Viridor's strategy of expanding into specialist areas of waste treatment which are expected to grow as a result of the Government's new Waste Strategy.”
In 2001 Richardson had a turnover of 7m and is expected to be earnings enhancing in the first full year after acquisition. One reason why Viridor bought Richardson is that it sees national and local waste strategies offering considerable opportunities for further growth in glass recycling. And, prices are likely to be strengthened as the value of packaging waste recovery notes increases in future years as packaging waste targets rise.
Reputation
Mike Hellings, managing director of Viridor Waste Management, said: “This deal represents an excellent opportunity to further strengthen Viridor’s performance in the recycling sector and overall. Richardson gained an excellent reputation over the years built on service delivery and innovation, and it is our intention to expand and enhance the business. These combined strengths will allow the continued delivery of high quality recycling and waste services to our new and existing customers and communities across the UK.”
Viridor said that meetings will be taking place over the next few days for the Richardson workforce, of drivers, recycling and depot operatives, engineers “to meet their new colleagues and discuss Viridor Waste Management’s ambitious business plans”.
Waste management companies generally in the UK have avoided direct involvement in glass making. One exception is Biffa which runs the Harlow glassmaking plant for United Glass. Viridor's entry into the market comes at a time when material is increasingly being sought from local authorities because of the growing diversion of cullet into aggregate making – prices have risen for green glass by several pounds over the past month.
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