Polymers
Recycling plastics to help realise the UK's circular economy
At Viridor we recognise the immense contribution that plastics have made to support our modern world and our needs for the future. Many of the manufacturing, agricultural, medical and information technology advances that underpin our way of life could not exist without plastics.
We also recognise that, if not managed properly, they have the potential to cause great harm to our environment. Our collective understanding of the impact of plastic waste on the planet has increased tremendously in recent years and has prompted global concern and a call to action.
The circular economy – ensuring the products we use stay in use or are reused for as long as possible to minimise waste – is often treated separately from the climate debate. But the wasteful use of products generates significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in extraction, manufacture and disposal.
Our plastics reprocessing facilities are the most sophisticated of their kind in the country, able to supply recycled plastics feedstock to manufacturers that can be directly substituted for 'virgin' plastics in their processes displacing the need to generate new, or virgin, products with higher embedded emissions. Removing those materials from the waste stream also avoids the GHG emissions associated with their disposal.
Quantafuel acquisition
In May 2023, Viridor successfully become a majority shareholder in Quantafuel AS, following a formal offer for acquisition for c.£90m
This acquisition reflects Viridor's ambition to lead innovation in the plastics recycling sector and deliver full circularity in all four major plastics by 2025.
Building a circular economy for plastics
Closing the loop: Viridor’s roadmap to a truly circular plastics economy
Our Circular Economy Ambition
Enabling ever higher levels of recycled plastic to end up in newly manufactured products, we provide recycled plastics to manufacturers and markets in the EU, Europe and Asia and work closely with brand owners and retailers to develop materials that are fit for recycling, particularly in the case of packaging.
If you are a company interested in sourcing recycled plastic for your process, please get in touch.
Recycling plastic to use again and again in the manufacture of new plastic items is a key part of a circular economy. It consumes less energy, generates less carbon and reduces the use of valuable natural resources all while keeping existing plastics from ending up in our natural environment.
Viridor is working now to help make this future a reality.
