RECYCLING company Viridor has announced plans to close one of their factories by the end of March.

The site at Lancots Lane, Sutton, was bought by the company in 2002 and recycles flat plate glass along with small volumes of container glass.

Currently 12 roles are “at risk” of redundancy, although the company says it is are confident these can be avoided by redeploying the employees to other facilities in Skelmersdale, Runcorn, Greater Manchester and its other site in Parr.

Viridor has stated that the electrical recycling facility in Parr will be unaffected by the closure of the site in Sutton.

A company spokeswoman said that Viridor had made every effort to secure the future of the business including a restructure in 2012.

However due to “changes in the market place” they said that plate glass is no longer a viable and profitable material to treat at this location and other efforts to save the site proved unfeasible.

Steve Newman, Virodor’s regional manager said: “This closure has no reflection on employees on site or site management, who have worked tirelessly over the past few years in their attempts to secure the future of the business.

“Unfortunately the current economic climate and lack of demand for a plate glass product meant that closure was the only option.

“I would like to thank all employees for their hard work, and every effort is being made to redeploy those roles within the business wherever possible.

“Consultation and dialogue with employees is continuing, and we are aiming for zero compulsory redundancies as a result of the closure.

“Five roles have already been accommodated at other Viridor locations, including the nearby electrical recycling facility.”

Lancots Lane is due to close on Monday, March 31, and Viridor is now working to make sure that the site is clean and safe and secure.

Options for the future of the site are under review.