24/7 operations imminent at Carlton Forest pyrolysis plant

Carlton Forest Renewables reports that its pyrolysis plant, the first continuous pyrolysis plant for end-of-life tyres (ELTs) in the UK, is just “days away” from becoming fully operational on a 24/7 basis. The plant at Carlton Forest’s Worksop site in Nottinghamshire has the capacity to process one tonne of tyre crumb each hour, producing approximately 3.6 million litres of tyre pyrolysis oil (TPO) each year and around 2,500 tonnes of carbon char.

“Our plant is an absolute superb example of how waste products, in this case ELTs, can be recovered and processed in a responsible way to create further products making the process completely circular,” comments Ben Crunkhorn, divisional director, Carlton Forest Renewables. “No further waste is created, no harmful emissions are created and, as the plant is small scale and can operate in island mode; meaning it requires no connection to the grid, the potential it brings to changing the face of tyre recycling is huge.”

Ten years of development

Carlton Forest began to consider ways of dealing with waste tyres in an environmentally responsible way a decade ago, with chief executive officer Mark Pepper deciding upon pyrolysis. His exploration into this process led him to South African firm IRR Manufacturing three years later. Pepper began working with IRR, together with a recycling engineer, and in the next couple of years successfully acquired the company to become the manufacturing division of his company, IRR Waste to Energy.

Working with the South African team, the first kiln was installed at Worksop three years ago and became operational for a short period of time. This period of operation confirmed to Carlton Forest that operations could be upscaled, enabling a greater quantity of ELTs to be dealt with. Plant operations ceased to allow modifications to realise this increase to be carried out, and second kiln and all its component parts were designed, engineered and manufactured.

Small-scale plants across the UK

Progress was hampered by the pandemic, but Carlton Forest says it now looks forward to an “exciting future as full operations begin, with its joint venture programme beginning to be rolled out and its small-scale plants deployed in strategic locations across the country. The company states that these “small scale but highly efficient” plants can be deployed in warehouses across the UK, reducing the tyre miles generated by driving waste tyres up and down the country to tyre recycling facilities.

Ben Crunkhorn concludes: “We will be the first operation pyrolysis plant for end-of-life tyres in the UK. We are proud to be leading by example as to how tyre recovery can be a positive process, deliver a revenue stream and great return on investment, and make a real difference as to how we dispose of one of the most hard to recycle materials.”