The Insolvency Service, a government agency, has released a statement on Unimetals after the business went into liquidation last year with repercussions still being felt today.
A spokesperson for the Insolvency Service said: “Unimetals Recycling (UK) Ltd was wound up in the High Court on 25 November 2025, with the Official Receiver appointed liquidator.
“All Unimetals Recycling (UK) Ltd sites were disclaimed by the Official Receiver on 25 November.
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“As a result of the liquidation, 607 employees of Unimetals Recycling (UK) Ltd were made redundant.
“All affected employees were given information on how to make statutory claims from the Redundancy Payments Service.”
Headquartered in Stratford-upon-Avon, the recycling firm operated 28 sites around the country.
Fridges and freezers (Image: John Hocknell)
A statement of affairs in relation to Unimetals Group Limited – one of various corporate entities associated with the business that were in liquidation – revealed the scale of its creditors which totalled £85,130,185.70.
Sims Group Holdings was owed £62,771,539.52, with Unimetals having taken over the global company’s UK-based business in 2024.
A related Unimetals company was owed £22,235,746.55, while Deloitte was owed £24,915.60 and JP Morgan was owed £769.55.
The business’ collapse created national headlines last year and has made the news again this summer as Oxfordshire County Council called for one of its former sites to be reopened.
Laura Gordon, cabinet member for the economy and the environment, called for the reopening of a recycling facility in Newport, Wales as the local authority temporarily limited the number of unwanted fridges and freezers it could take at its household waste recycling centres.
Olly Glover (Image: Oxford Mail)
Oxfordshire’s district and city council were also asked to make similar restrictions on bulky waste, with most agreeing.
At the time, Ms Gordon said: “I have written to the government to suggest steps they could take to alleviate the situation at a national level.
“Unfortunately, our capacity for treatment nationally has been reduced by a third and we have now had to introduce temporary restrictions at our household waste recycling centres to help manage a growing backlog as we seek to maintain the service for residents.”
Following the announcement, a group of Liberal Democrat MPs also sent a letter to Emma Hardy, minister of state for environment, food and rural affairs.
Calling it a “national crisis”, they said their constituents have been “left confused by collection arrangements and the safe disposal of fridges and freezers is at risk, with an increased threat of fly tipping now present”.
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Olly Glover, Charlie Maynard, Freddie Van Mierlo, Layla Moran and Calum Miller all signed the letter.
One of the solutions identified by Ms Gordon, according to the BBC, was for a Newport facility to reopen after it closed in November last year following Unimetals going into liquidation.
Ms Gordon said: “Fridges and freezers require specialist recycling because of the cooling gases which can deplete the ozone, if they’re not handled correctly.
“Unfortunately, due to fires at two recycling sites and the bankruptcy of a third, national capacity is down massively.”
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