The UK arm of a Spanish industrial waste group, with about 22 UK sites that treat, recycle and safely dispose of hazardous and industrial waste, including solvents and used oil.
Tradebe UK is the British arm of the Tradebe group, a company that deals with industrial and hazardous waste: the leftovers of factories, laboratories, refineries and hospitals that cannot simply be thrown away. According to its UK page, it collects, treats, recovers and disposes of waste including laboratory chemicals, used oil and solvents. It recovers solvents by distillation, blends waste into fuel for cement kilns, and also provides secure destruction, clinical waste services and services for naturally occurring radioactive waste. The company says it can use more than half of the waste it receives as a raw material to make recycled products or energy.
The wider Tradebe group, according to Wikipedia, was founded in Spain in 1980, began with solvent recycling and hazardous waste, and now operates in Spain, France, the UK, the United States and Oman. Its UK page gives the mission as to "address environmental challenges and lead the way to a responsible future", and stresses sustainability, the circular economy and safe, responsible waste handling. The group entered the UK through an oil services business that later became Tradebe Refinery Services, and has grown here by buying and developing sites.
The company says it has a network of 22 sites across the UK. Its page lists a head office at Marlow and sites at Alva in Scotland, Bridgend, Ellesmere Port, Fawley in Hampshire, Hinckley, Invergordon in the Highlands, Rye, Sunderland, Swindon, Warrington and Wrexham, among others. It describes a thermal treatment centre at Fawley, claims the UK's largest physicochemical treatment facility, and says it runs one of only two high-temperature incineration plants in the country. The company says it holds the full ISO and COMAH accreditations that the industry requires, and its newsroom reports it was ranked 41st in the ENR Top 200 Environmental Firms list in 2026.
We found little about culture and day-to-day working life. Its UK page invites readers to "grow with us" but names no leaders and gives no employee count, so we have not guessed either. What the page does make clear is that safety is central: dealing with hazardous materials means strict procedures, trained staff and regulators who inspect sites. People considering a role should expect that safety culture to matter more than in many offices.
Work at a company like this covers many functions. There are chemists and laboratory analysts who test what arrives, process and plant operators, drivers and logistics staff who collect waste, engineers who maintain complex treatment equipment, and health, safety and environmental managers. There are also sales, customer service, finance and technical compliance roles. A background in chemistry, chemical or process engineering, environmental science or logistics is a natural starting point, though not the only one.
Website: www.tradebe.com/environmental-services/markets/uk
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