The packaging company, Garlock Flexibles, is closing down two facilities in Gardner and laying off 91 employees, according to a WARN notice filed with the state. The company says it anticipates the facilities at 164 Fredette St. and 77 Industrial Rowe will close by the end of September. The notice says that a small number of administrative and leadership positions will remain after the plant closures.
In the plastic recycling industry, the casualties keep coming. Waste management company Biffa's Sunderland plant closed in February after opening in 2022 at a cost of 7m, while rival Viridor closed its Avonmouth plant in 2022, Skelmersdale in 2023 and confirmed this summer that its Rochester plant would close, too. Like falling dominoes, plastic recycling plant closures have been endemic across Europe too: another big name, Veolia, will close its two German operations this year, while seven plastic recyclers closed in the Netherlands last year.