A Norwegian firm in the process of building a tyre recycling plant in Sunderland has secured £33m ($43m) investment towards the project.
Wastefront is setting up a Port of Sunderland facility that it hopes will process 80,000 tonnes of tyres per year once at full capacity. The Oslo firm has now got the financial backing of Dutch energy storage operator VTTI and an agreement to jointly set up another eight global sites yet to be decided.
The multimillion-pound sum will be put towards the first phase of construction of Wastefront's North East plant, which has already earned an offtake agreement with European rubber distributor Weber & Schaer for its recovered carbon black material. Building work on the plant will start this year with plans to be operational by 2026.
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Vianney Vales, Wastefront CEO, said: "Our mission to create a green global industrial platform to solve the end-of-life tyre problem requires buy-in from major industrial companies. VTTI is a leading infrastructure company with a clear mission to grow in the energy transition and I am delighted to announce our partnership.
"This is the first time that our Wastefront Blueprint solution for circularity will be licensed on a global stage. VTTI has opted to go a step further and not just deploy our solution but also invest in Wastefront and in future plants. The investment will immediately enable us to scale our work at the Port of Sunderland, and to grow our market reach with the development of eight plants at VTTI sites worldwide."
Wastefront uses a depolymerisation process known as pyrolysis to break down tyres at high temperatures, turning them into a range of products including carbon black, combustible gas, liquid hydrocarbon and heat. Carbon black can be treated and used as a reinforcement for natural rubber in tyre production and as a filler for plastics.
Guy Moeyens, VTTI CEO, said: “We are pleased to enter into a strategic partnership with Wastefront on this exciting journey to jointly develop tyre recycling plants at our locations around the globe. We are looking forward to working together with Wastefront in making this important contribution to the circular economy.
"Wastefront is a complementary partner of VTTI that brings in a fully developed and technologically proven tyre recycling offering, an experienced team, an extensive network in feedstock markets and recognition from tyre manufacturers. Our combined efforts will be able to turn a current large and growing global waste problem into products like pyrolysis oil and recovered carbon black, which are highly sought after in the ongoing energy transition.”
