More than 40 employees are being made redundant as a recycling firm announces it is closing one of its Kent sites.
Viridor has confirmed it is decommissioning its base on the Medway City Estate, in Strood, due to “challenging market conditions”.
It will also be making 42 members of staff redundant, however, it has said it will look to support them in finding new jobs in the area or elsewhere in the company as part of other “redeployment opportunities”.
A spokesperson explained: “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.”
Shortly before 3am this morning (August 1) five fire engines were called to a blaze at the recycling centre.
Crews, wearing breathing apparatus, used main jets to extinguish the fire.
There are no reported injuries and there is not believed to be any damage. The cause is not yet known.
It comes after a larger fire engulfed the same premises last month.
Firefighters spent almost 12 hours tackling the huge blaze which had broken out at the site.
It is understood to have begun at around 5.50am with four engines initially called out to the scene.
Thick, black smoke could be seen coming from the building for miles around, with plumes spotted as far as parts of Gravesend and Hoo.
Some commuters travelling on the High Speed rail link at the riverside town also reported seeing the smoke from afar.
Clipper Close was cordoned off, and nearby residents and businesses were told to shut windows and doors.
After 12 hours of crews tackling the blaze and checking for hotspots, it was finally put out at around 9pm, and operations at the recycling centre resumed the next day.
That fire is believed to have started accidentally and has been linked to a discarded battery.
