A spokeswoman explained that some services were being cut back, although the site itself remains open.
It is thought that the MRF at the site had been converted from being a dirty MRF to one handling dry recyclables, but Viridor today could not confirm whether it was one of the services being shut down at Wretham.
The Larksall Mill site near Thetford was acquired by Viridor in November 2010 as part of the acquisitions of Pearsons Group Holdings Ltd, described as the last big independent waste and recycling operator in East Anglia, for £16 million (see letsrecycle.com story). Alongside the MRF, the site operates collection services and a depot.
Strategy
At the time, Viridor said that the acquisition fitted with its strategy of expanding its materials recycling capacity, with then managing director Mike Hellings pointing to a “need to continue delivering higher recycling and resource management levels across the UK”.
However, only recently the company warned of ongoing volatility in the price of recyclables and pointed to the importance of energy-from-waste rather than recycling in bringing in future profits.
Capacity
When acquired by Viridor, the East Wretham site was licensed to accept hazardous waste and was accepting around 1,000 tonnes of materials per week and had an operational capacity of 150,000 tonnes per annum with ELV and WEEE licensing.
Speaking to letsrecycle.com today, a spokeswoman for Viridor said: “It is a range of services within the site that have closed. The whole site has not closed.”
In a statement issued following the move, Viridor said: “Following a review of potential new opportunities in the area, Viridor can confirm that it is introducing changes to operations at its East Wretham Materials Recycling Facility, which will reduce the level of materials processed at that site. We will continue to process recyclable materials at other Viridor sites which offer facilities more able to cater for the increasing quality demands of the market and capable of operating at higher levels of efficiency.
“Viridor’s collection vehicles will continue to operate from the Larkshall Mill site and those customers receiving services from the fleet will be unaffected as a result of this change.
“Consultations are currently in hand with the relevant staff, and on-site processing activities are currently being scaled down. Operations at our nearby Howlett’s Way site in Thetford are not affected by this change.”
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