Veolia appoints Richard Kirkman as Northern Europe CEO and UK chief. Veolia has appointed Richard Kirkman as CEO for Northern Europe and head of its UK business, effective 2 April 2026. Kirkman, who spent 26 years with Veolia in the UK before leading its Australia and New Zealand operations, replaces Gavin Graveson, who moves to head the Asia Pacific zone.
The Northern Europe zone covers the UK, Ireland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Finland and the Netherlands, with nearly 20,000 employees and £4bn in revenue across water, waste and energy services. Kirkman, who has a doctorate in infrastructure for the circular economy, will also lead growth and innovation at Veolia group level and joins the company's executive committee.
The UK processed 4.013 million tonnes of waste wood in 2025, 89 per cent of the total generated, according to annual statistics from the Wood Recyclers' Association. The figure is down 7.3 per cent on 2024 after unplanned outages at end-use plants created oversupply and squeezed storage.
recell.store, the Altilium-owned marketplace for used EV batteries, has partnered with testing firm ClearWatt to offer battery health assessments to salvage yards and dismantlers. A pilot will use ClearWatt's EV Flash Test to generate independent health data supporting marketplace transactions.
Packaging firm Pact Group has invested in Plan B Circular, the UK textile-to-textile polyester recycler behind Project Re:claim, its joint venture with the Salvation Army Trading Company (SATCoL). The deal aims to scale polyester recycling ahead of EU legislation expected in 2028.