by business editor Trevor Sturgess

Hot saunas are being lined up for staff after Finns pumped millions of pounds into a Kent waste recycling plant.

The surprise employee benefit follows a joint venture between award-winning SWEEEP and Kuusakoski, an international recycling company based in Espoo, Finland.

It has international operations in the UK, Baltic countries, China, Poland and Russia. The new business will be known as SWEEEP Kuusakoski.

SWEEEP, a waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) processor, has already invested £6.5 million in its Gas Road, Sittingbourne, plant, making it one of the UK's most advanced recycling centres of its type.

Machines dismantle and separate component parts of more than 4,000 televisions and computer monitors every day, as well as 180 tons of other electrical waste.

The facility is run entirely from 100 per cent renewable energy.

Kuusakoski is building on its existing presence in the UK and using the Sittingbourne plant as its headquarters.

Patrick Watts, managing director of SWEEEP, winner of several awards including an Environment Award for Kent Business, welcomed the move.

"By going into partnership with Kuusakoski, we are laying the foundations for the future growth of the business.

"That can only be good for our growing workforce here in Sittingbourne."

The Finnish touch means that employees will be able to relax in the workplace sauna and ease the stresses of the day.

Mr Watts added: "Finnish recycling plants take the working environment for employees extremely seriously and we'll be following that ethos by offering saunas, showers and flower- covered pagodas at our newly-built facilities for employees.

"For Finns, saunas are not a luxury but a necessity as part of a healthy lifestyle.

"Indeed, before the rise of public healthcare, almost all Finnish mothers gave birth in saunas but that won't be something we'll be encouraging in Sittingbourne!"

Timo Kuusakoski, managing director of Kuusakoski OY, said: "SWEEEP is one of the UK's leading WEEE organisations and we saw in the team a perfect fit with our own aspirations in the UK marketplace.

"Not only are we bringing further WEEE expertise but also our working practices, bringing a traditional Finnish feel to a corner of Kent!"