Biffa closed its Sunderland recycling plant amid market challenges, redirecting investment to Redcar, while maintaining other UK operations.
Biffa, a leading waste management company in the UK, has announced the closure of its plastics recycling facility in Washington, Sunderland. The plant, which had an annual processing capacity of 39,000 tonnes, ceased operations in early 2025 due to increasingly difficult market conditions, particularly for washed high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP) flake, according to Sustainable Plastics. The closure has impacted approximately 80 employees who worked at the site.
Initially constructed in 2020 with an investment of £7 million (€8.1 million), the Washington plant was a key part of Biffa’s strategy to enhance its recycling capabilities for commonly used plastic packaging, such as milk bottles, tubs, and trays made from HDPE and PP. In 2023, Biffa had announced plans to inject an additional £13 million to double the plant’s capacity. However, those expansion plans have since been redirected to another of Biffa’s sites, located in Redcar.
The Redcar facility, which specializes in producing recycled HDPE food-grade pellets, boasts a significantly larger capacity of 83,000 tonnes per year. It now serves as the focal point of Biffa’s HDPE recycling operations following the Washington plant’s closure.
Biffa continues to maintain operations at two of its other major recycling sites in the UK. The Seaham plant, which was built with a £27.5 million investment, processes up to 57,000 tonnes of PET bottles annually. Meanwhile, the Sherburn site handles 25,000 tonnes of PET flakes each year, converting them into food-grade PET pellets. According to media reports, these facilities are currently operating normally and continue to play a significant role in the UK’s circular economy.
Across its UK operations, Biffa processes more than 190,000 tonnes of waste plastic annually, converting it into recycled polymers. However, the recycling industry in the UK and across Europe is facing increasing pressure. Industry experts report that declining local production, a surge in cheap plastic imports, and mounting economic difficulties are pushing many recyclers—both large and small—toward closure.
The scale of the crisis intensified in 2024, with the total processing capacity lost due to plant shutdowns more than doubling compared to 2023. This troubling trend has continued into 2025. For example, in 2024, Viridor closed its mechanical plastics recycling facility in Avonmouth, only two years after it had opened. Earlier this month, Veolia, another key player in the recycling sector, revealed it would shut down two of its plastic recycling sites in Germany by the end of the year.
Despite these closures, Veolia recently committed £70 million (€81 million) to establish the UK’s first closed-loop PET tray recycling plant, signaling that some investment and innovation in the sector still continue.
