The closure follows “a detailed strategic review” of the site which launched in November 2024, alongside a wider strategic review of Viridor’s UK mechanical recycling operations due to “wider market challenges”.
The N+P Group is set to acquire the equipment from the facility.
A Viridor spokesperson said: “We have reached an agreement with N+P, an established industry player and local employer, to sell our equipment at our UK mechanical recycling operations in Rochester.
“This marks the conclusion of Viridor’s strategic review into the site that we first announced in November 2024 in direct response to challenging market conditions for mechanical recycling in the UK.
“At the time, Viridor announced it was planning to exit mechanical recycling at its Avonmouth site, the key offtake route for Rochester, which has now closed. During this strategic review period for the Rochester site, Viridor tested the market thoroughly but regrettably was unable to find a buyer for the business as a going concern. It is therefore proposed the Rochester site will be-decommissioned and closed.
“This is difficult news for impacted colleagues and we will begin a collective redundancy consultation process with the 42 employees in the coming days. As part of this process, we will be working with colleagues to help them find new roles in the local area or redeployment opportunities across our Group.
“It is our understanding that N+P will be looking to relocate the acquired equipment and repurpose it in other UK sites, potentially including nearby Crayford and has the potential to create jobs in their organisation as a result.”
The site was opened in November 2014 following approximately £12.5 million in investment.
It processes and sorts a wide variety of household-rigid plastic items, including PET and High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) bottles and polypropylene (PP) pots, tubs and trays.
Viridor previously closed its Avonmouth mechanical polymers recycling plant in November 2024 in what was described as a blow for the UK plastics recycling market.
A Viridor spokesperson 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.”
Instability in the plastics market
Yesterday (31 July 2025), it was reported that Biffa had closed its 39,000 pa tonne Sunderland plastics recycling plant earlier this year.
It primarily processed High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP), with this volume being redirected to its Redcar site.
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.”
Despite instability following the announcement of the Viridor Avonmouth 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.
Despite ongoing market uncertainty, 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.
See the full letsrecycle.com plastics prices for July here.
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