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.