Biffa is one of the major waste and recycling companies in the UK and services Local Authority and Business customers through a range of waste management facilities including landfill and MRFs. With around 8,000 employees Biffa covers the whole of the UK, managing 2,800 front-line vehicles[1].

Biffa logo from website
Biffa logo from website


History

Biffa was founded in 1912 by Richard Henry Biffa, growing significantly from the early 1960's through to the late 1980's before being acquired by Severn Trent Water in 1991. Biffa 'demerged' from Severn Trent Plc and joined the FTSE250 index before being taken private again in 2008 by Waste Acquisition Co Ltd, renaming the company Biffa Limited. Biffa was then taken public again in October 2016 and entered the FTSE100 index in March 2020[1].

In May 2021 Biffa announced the purchase of Viridor's collection business and the majority of its recycling locations for a cash consideration of £126m[2]. In September 2022 it was announced that Biffa's board had accepted a cash offer for the shares in the company by a new company owned by Energy Capital Partners at a value of £1.3bn[3]

The relative position of the top 5 waste companies, by turnover, is as follows:

Company Turnover (million GBP) 2017/18[4] Turnover (million GBP) Most Recently Reported Note On Source and Date for Most Recently Reported
Veolia 1,500 1,571 Veolia Environmental Services (UK) Ltd only, as per financial year report ending December 2020[5]
Biffa 1,077 1,364 turnover shown net of landfill tax as per financial year report ending March 2022[6]
Suez 798 900 as per investor press release September 2022[7]
Viridor 789 556 as per accounts published for year end March 2022[8]
FCC 670 509 FCC Environment (UK) Ltd as per annual accounts dated December 2021[9]

The growth in the Biffa business was underpinned by the acquisition of the Viridor businesses in 2021, as set out above.

Biffa Entities Listed on WikiWaste

References