Viridor shuts down Quantafuel’s chemical recycling plants in Europe

Viridor has officially shut down Quantafuel’s chemical recycling operations in Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

Viridor has officially shut down Quantafuel’s chemical recycling operations in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. In May, the UK-based waste management company said it had entered local consultations to decide on a potential closure of operations . Quantafuel ceased chemical recycling operations at the end of June 2026.

Its only commercial plant , located in Skive, Denmark, had capacity to process 20,000 tonnes of mixed plastic waste a year. In Malmö, Sweden, the company operated a research and development site, as well as an office in Oslo, Norway, where it based its central services, engineering and project management. Its mechanical recycling operations at Resource Denmark’s sorting plant are not affected.

Stay on top of the latest innovations and investments in chemical recycling Access the Chemical Recycling Tracker Viridor said it took the “difficult decision” to close its European chemical recycling operations because “current market dynamics and continued policy uncertainty mean conditions are not yet supporting the sector commercially.” The company has called for measures to ensure European plastics waste is recycled in Europe ; clear, enforceable recycled content requirements with confirmed timelines and meaningful consequences for non-compliance; and quick implementation of harmonised and consistent end-of-waste rules across Europe and the UK for chemically recycled plastics .

“Advanced plastics recycling has an important role to play in the circular economy, but without stronger market conditions, greater regulatory certainty and the right policy support, the sector is not commercially viable,” said Lee Hodder, managing director, carbon capture and circular solutions at Viridor. “We remain committed to delivering a circular economy and hope the conditions will exist in the future for this technology to fulfil its potential.” Viridor acquired Quantafuel after the chemical recycler faced a liquidity shortfall in 2022 .

Quantafuel has developed Plastic-to-Liquid technology based on pyrolysis that includes a two-stage catalytic process in the gas phase. The process utilises proprietary catalysts to increase the quality of the hydrocarbons, after which the gas is condensed and separated into different oil fractions, the largest of which is destined for new plastics production. Viridor is one of the UK’s leading resource recovery and waste management companies.

It operates the largest fleet of Energy-from-Waste (EfW) facilities and the largest multi-line polymers reprocessing plant in the UK.