S Norton & Co. acquires Axion Recycling

Liverpool, United Kingdom-based S. Norton & Co. Ltd. has acquired the U.K.- based plastics recycling company Axion Recycling Ltd. from the five investors who have owned that firm since 2006.

With the move, Axion Recycling Ltd. and its business units -- Axion Polymers and Axion Consulting – will become wholly owned subsidiaries of the S. Norton group, a firm that processes more than 1.5 million metric tons of scrap metal each year.

With Axion being acquired, Keith Freegard, marketing director for the company, has resigned from his position on Axion’s board as marketing director and terminated his full-time employment with Axion. Freegard says he will continue working on projects and in areas matching his experience and knowledge and will be involved in consulting for S. Norton and Axion through mid-2019.

The remainder of Axion’s senior staff, including Roger Morton, will continue with the company and the firm indicates it will continue with its existing projects and service contracts.

According to a statement from Axion, the company will trade under the same name and all commercial transactions will continue in the same manner as before.

“We are pleased to announce this change in ownership of Axion Recycling because it clarifies and consolidates the working arrangements between S. Norton and the Axion sites,” says John Norton, chairman of S. Norton & Co.

He continues, “We will continue to support the company policy and strategy for sales growth of all products, while at the same time increasing added-value and profitability. We look forward to a successful future based on this strengthened relationship.”

Freegard remarks, “I am immensely proud of the sustainable business that the Axion team has created over the past 16 years and to have grown a successful company in the resource recovery sector that delivers the circular economy, today, while most organizations are only just beginning to think about it.”

Adds Freegard, “This change in ownership further strengthens the long-term sustainability of the ‘grave-to-cradle’ business model that S. Norton and Axion can deliver for U.K. industry. I am happy to maintain an active link with the team at Axion through my part-time consultancy role, and I also look forward to finding some new opportunities in the exciting waste resource recycling sector.”