Wastefront receives 2 million-euro grant

Tyre pyrolysis project Wastefront AS and Hulteberg Chemistry & Engineering AB have been awarded a 2 million-euro grant from the Eureka Eurostars funding programme and the Norwegian Research Council as well as the Swedish Innovation Agency. Total project-funding amounts to 2.076 million euros – half from Eurostars and half from the other project partners.

The grant is being used by Wastefront and Hulteberg to fund a oil purification project – HYFUEL – dedicated to developing a catalyst approach to purifying pyrolysis oil extracted from end-of-life tyres (ELTs). According to the company, the HYFUEL process will enable Wastefront to increase the value of its existing biofuel offering to its commercial customers by “optimising some of the characteristics of Tyre Derived Oil (TDO) when it is transformed into renewable fuels for several applications”.

While the TDO that Wastefront typically produces is valuable and qualifies as a biofuel under price premium schemes, the pre-treatment of pyrolysis feed and upgrading of TDO means that HYFUEL’s optimised tyre pyrolysis oil can be used as a substitution for diesel fuel without the need for further refining. And what’s more, “Wastefront’s HYFUEL process does not require high temperatures for operation, which represents lower energy consumption, lower carbon emissions and a much better alternative for the environment”, the company reported in a statement dated 1 November 2022.

Earlier this year, Wastefront announced a partnership with Newcastle University for an 18-month study into how the production of recovered carbon black can be improved. This focuses on developing methods to reduce inorganic components in recovered carbon black, understanding how different solvents which have varying degrees of dispersion interact, and developing methods to better understand the nature of the surface within the recovered carbon black material.

Henrik Selstam, CTO of Wastefront commented: “We’ve been very excited about this project and we feel privileged to be closely collaborating with Hulteberg, a company with vast experience in standard-bearing renewable projects. The purification of pyrolysis oil is a critical next step for our industry as we strive to implement greener, more efficient ways to utilise end-of-life-tyres, which too often still end up in landfills or being burnt in cement kilns. Ground-breaking projects like this, underpinned by collaboration, innovation and intent at their core, are undoubtedly the key to realising the net-zero transition at the pace the future of our planet so clearly requires.”

Christian Hulteberg, Founder and Managing Director of Hulteberg, added: “We’ve been continually impressed with the forward-thinking vision Wastefront has conveyed for tyre recycling ever since its inception, so the decision to partner with them on this innovative and trailblazing project was an easy one. We’re confident our collaboration can pave the way for even more advanced processes for the utilisation of ELTs, and present a significant opportunity to preserve our planet’s natural resources with a renewed emphasis on circularity.”

Once fully operational in 2025, Wastefront’s £100 million tyre recycling plant in Sunderland will produce rCB from a supply of 20 per cent of the UK’s yearly total of ELTs. By integrating Wastefront’s rCB into new tyres, the emissions for each tyre subsequently produced will be reduced by 80 per cent.