Viridor

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title: "Viridor" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["companies-based-in-taunton", "kohlberg-kravis-roberts-companies", "waste-management-companies-of-the-united-kingdom", "1956-establishments-in-england"] description: "British recycling company" topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viridor" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary British recycling company ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]

Field	Value
name	Viridor Limited
logo	Viridor logo.png
type	Subsidiary
foundation	1956
location	Taunton, England
locations	320 facilities
key_people	Ian Wakelin (Chairman)
Kevin Bradshaw (Chief Executive Officer)
industry	Waste
revenue	£672 million (2023)
net_income	£167 million (2023)
parent	KKR
homepage
::

| name = Viridor Limited | logo = Viridor logo.png | type = Subsidiary | traded_as = | foundation = 1956 | location = Taunton, England | locations = 320 facilities | key_people = Ian Wakelin (Chairman) Kevin Bradshaw (Chief Executive Officer) | industry = Waste | products = | revenue = £672 million (2023) | operating_income = | net_income = £167 million (2023) | num_employees = | parent = KKR | subsid = | homepage = | footnotes = }} ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Viridor's_24_MW_waste_to_energy_plant.jpg" caption="Viridor waste to energy plant in [[Ardley, Oxfordshire"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Viridor_WK08BPE.jpg" caption="Viridor waste collection truck in [[Plymouth"] ::

Viridor Limited (from the Latin 'to become green') is a recycling and waste management company in the United Kingdom owned by KKR.

History

The company was formed in 1956 as Harrison Western Limited, later becoming Haul Waste Limited. Haul Waste became part of Pennon in 1993, and grew by purchasing companies in the waste collection and landfill disposal market.

In 1995 it bought Blue Circle Waste Management, bringing about South West Water's name change to Pennon Group in 1998, and the merger of Haul Waste and Blue Circle Waste Management under Viridor. It subsequently acquired part of Churngold's waste business in June 2003, Thames Waste Management in 2004, Somerset LAWDC Wyvern Waste in 2006, Grosvenor Waste Management and Skipaway Holdings in 2007, and Shore Recycling in 2008. Later in 2015 Viridor took over the collection side of Dorset based waste company Commercial Recycling.

Today the business is valued at around £4 billion, with recent acquisitions and growth focused on expanding the company's recycling and energy from waste capacity. Viridor was awarded the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority's Waste PFI contract, the largest waste and renewable energy contract in the UK.

On 12 August 2010, the company was featured on Channel 4 documentary Undercover Boss, in which Chief Executive Colin Drummond went undercover as a new recruit inside the company.

In March 2020, KKR agreed terms to buy Viridor in a £4.2 billion deal. The transaction was completed on 8 July 2020.

Viridor Credits

As part of the Landfill Communities Fund tax credit scheme, Viridor created the Viridor Credits scheme which in 2001 to distribute funds to communities for heritage and biodiversity projects. It reported £7.6m in grants in 2017/18.

References

References

1. "History".
2. (August 2025). "PNNEUR.DEp".
3. "Recycling and Waste Management News".
4. "Pennon Group's Viridor acquires UK waste management company for £14.7m".
5. (25 March 2008). "Pennon buys recycle firm for £23m".
6. "Talk grows of Viridor sale - letsrecycle.com".
7. [http://www.gmwda.gov.uk/news/news-pr0017.htm State of the Art Technology for Greater Manchester], www.gmdwa.gov.uk, Retrieved 19 October 2007
8. [http://www.channel4.com/programmes/undercover-boss/episode-guide/series-2/episode-5 Channel 4 - Undercover Boss Series 2 Episode 5] Retrieved 12 August 2010
9. (18 March 2020). "Pennon sells waste business Viridor to private equity firm KKR in £4.2bn deal".
10. "Proposed Sale of Viridor for £4.2 billion to KKR".
11. (18 March 2020). "KKR to buy recycling group Viridor in £4.2bn deal". [[Financial Times]].
12. "Viridor Credits".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::