Waste & Recycling

SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK sustainability score: 34/100

34/100

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About SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK

SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK operates waste collection, treatment, and disposal services across England, Scotland, and Wales. The company runs landfills, energy-from-waste incinerators, and materials recovery facilities, processing approximately 8.5 million tonnes of waste annually.

More about SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK

It is a subsidiary of French multinational SUEZ.

Founded 1988Head office United KingdomStaff ~5,137 (2025)Revenue £828.2M revenue (FY ended 31 Dec 2025)Website ↗

Our verdict

SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK reports fragmented emissions data across inconsistent boundaries, obscuring full climate impact. Most waste diverts to incineration rather than recycling. Targets rely on carbon avoidance netting rather than absolute reduction, and no third-party emissions verification exists.

SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK scores 34/100 (Below expectations) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Companies can never pay for anything about their own score. Last verified November 2026.

That places SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK joint 574th of 947 companies scored, and joint 3rd of 4 in Waste & Recycling.

The ten questions

What is SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK doing well, and where does it fall short?

Strongest on Controversies & Red Flags and Carbon Footprint: Supply Chain (8/10, 6/10). Weakest on Emissions Trajectory and Nature & Biodiversity Impact (3/10, 3/10).

What's missing

Where SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK lost points

For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.

  • Emissions from its own operations5/10No full Scope 1 and 2 figures worked out to the GHG Protocol.
  • Emissions from its supply chain6/10No full value-chain map or supplier engagement programme.
  • Whether its emissions are falling3/10No evidence its emissions are falling, not even from energy bills or mileage.
  • How clean its energy is4/10Less than half its energy shown to be renewable, or no transition plan.
  • Its effect on nature3/10No assessment of its effect on nature, and no basic environmental policy.
  • How it uses materials and handles waste4/10No measurable waste or recycling targets reported publicly.
  • Its effect on water4/10No measured water footprint with reduction targets.
  • Its climate targets3/10No specific targets with dates.
  • How openly it reports5/10No dedicated sustainability role, board oversight or public report.

A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Anyone can send us new evidence, free. How to send it.

The calculation

How is SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK's SINK score calculated?

Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.

SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × Scale
Industry base impact
Waste & Recycling sector ceiling.
35 / 100
Performance score
Sum of the ten questions, each scored 0 to 10.
45 / 100
Raw score
Weighted average before scale penalty.
(0.3 × 35) + (0.7 × 45) = 42.0
Scale penalty
Multiplier based on total emissions. Bigger polluters lose more.
× 0.82
Final score
Rounded. Below expectations.
34 / 100
Where the evidence comes from

What evidence is SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK's score based on?

11 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.

45% of them were published by SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK itself; the rest come from independent sources.

SUEZ UK's filed accounts report 61,928 tonnes for the operating company in 2025, but that boundary leaves out its energy-from-waste plants. We set the size deduction from SUEZ UK's own full-boundary total of 1,254,536 tonnes for 2024, from its 2024 sustainability report (owner ruling 2026-11-05).

[1]Public record
SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK Ltd Annual Report and Financial Statements (FY ended 31 December 2025)

“Strong operational performance of the Company's fleet of Energy from Waste (EfW) facilities”

2026
Q1Q3Q7
View →
[2]Self-reported
SUEZ Sustainability Report 2024

“Scope 1 tCO2e 483,398 543,591 465,556”

2024
Q1Q2Q3Q4Q6Q7
View →
[3]Self-reported
SUEZ Sustainability Report 2023

“to 50% of these emissions by 2030.”

2023
Q2Q4Q6Q8Q9
View →
[4]Public record
SUEZ Severnside Energy Recovery Centre — Environment Agency Permit Review (Reg 61 Notice)

“This permit controls the operation of a waste incineration plant.”

2023
Q5
View →
[5]Self-reported
SUEZ in the UK — A Sustainable Business

“biodiversity action plans with measures to encourage plant and wildlife at all our sites.”

Ongoing
Q5
View →
[6]Independent source
SUEZ Violation Tracker UK

“Penalty : £101,700”

Ongoing
Q7
View →
[7]Independent source
SUEZ-backed carbon capture project wins government support

“Suez-backed carbon capture project wins government support”

Unknown
Q8
View →
[8]Independent source
Expanding UK ETS to include EfW will increase costs by around 50%, a new report says

“SUEZ recycling and recovery UK commissioned the report”

2025
Q10
View →
[9]Self-reported
SUEZ commissioned report finds scope to mitigate potentially significant ETS costs

“The report also proposed a zero rate for waste that must be treated via energy recovery”

2025
Q10
View →
[10]Independent source
Let's Recycle coverage of SUEZ ETS engagement

“SUEZ consults on plans for carbon capture plant”

Unknown
Q10
View →
[11]Self-reported
SUEZ Downloads page

“Sustainability report 2024”

Ongoing
Q9
View →

If you believe a source has been misread or a newer version exists, submit a challenge.

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    SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK: SINK sustainability score 34/100.

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SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK in context

How does SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK compare with other waste & recycling companies?

SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK is tied at the bottom of the waste & recycling pack.

Among the 4 major waste & recycling brands we've scored, SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK is tied =3rd of 4, with 1 other.

=3/4
SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK's rank
36
Industry average
34
Industry low
40
Industry high
1Biffa
40
2Veolia UK
37
3European Metal Recycling
34
3SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK
34
See all 4 in Waste & Recycling →
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