Pyrolysis-based recycling specialist Pyrum Innovations AG (Pyrum) has released its annual and consolidated financial statements for the 2023 financial year, along with an update on the company’s progress in supply of recovered end-of-life tyre products to the tyre industry. CEO Pascal Klein commented that another eventful year lies behind the company.
Within the framework of an eight-year offtake agreement, UK-based tyre pyrolysis specialist Circtec will annually supply energy company bp with up to 75,000 tonnes of fuel and feedstock recovered from end-of-life tyres. Circtec will process these tyres at a plant it will set up in The Netherlands. In support of this offtake agreement, bp is providing Circtec a €12.5 million debt finance facility to contribute to the capex for expanding this plant into a commercial-scale operation.
North East Lincolnshire Council has approved plans for a pyrolysis plant for processing end-of-life tyres in Grimsby. The facility proposed by Fluid Ice FO Ltd has the capacity to process nearly 25,000 tonnes of waste tyres annually. Fluid Ice claims that the plant will use a pyrolysis process “based on the plant” operated by ReOil in Jazworno, Poland, which produces saleable fuel oil, carbon black and steel as well as pyrolysis gas.
A consulting agreement with Swedish firm GreenTech Recycling Tires AB gives Pyrum Innovations AG its first point of entry into the Scandinavian market. On the proviso that GreenTech’s financing is fully secured, Pyrum will invest up to 3 million euros in a joint venture SPV (special purpose vehicle) to build a pyrolysis recycling plant capable of processing 20,000 tonnes of end-of-life tyres annually.
Scandinavian Enviro Systems AB (Enviro) has published its financial results for 2023, and these figures reflect the expense involved with setting up a new recycling solution for end-of-life tyres. The Swedish firm achieved net revenues of SEK 13.9 million (£1.1 million) during the year, a 73.8 per cent increase on 2022 revenues. Operating results were still in the red at SEK -93.6 million (-£7.1 million) and earnings after tax were SEK -92.3 million (-£7.0 million) (2022: SEK -83.6 million).
Michelin has finalised its shared investment plan alongside joint venture partners Enviro and Antin for the construction of a first end-of-life tyre recycling plant in Uddevalla, Sweden. The project, which broke ground in February, is based on Enviro’s pyrolysis technology. It has secured a series of multi-year contracts for the supply of used tyres and the upcycling of recovered carbon black and pyrolysis oil. The first plant has targeted a capacity to recycle approximately 35,000 tons of used tyres annually and to create up to 40 green jobs in the local community in its first phase.
Pyrum Innovations views the commissioning of reactor 2 (TAD 2) at its main Dillingen/Saar site in Germany as a “new milestone,” and test runs of TAD 2 have resulted in the production of around 60,000 litres of pyrolysis oil, with the first delivery of 24,000 litres earmarked for BASF. Rigorous testing and sampling confirm that the oil meets all required specifications, paving the way for future deliveries.
After several years of planning, Scandinavian Enviro Systems’ recycling facility in Sweden took a further step towards reality yesterday with a groundbreaking ceremony at the plant site in Uddevalla. Enviro, Antin Infrastructure Partners, and Michelin finalised the investment decision for the plant just under a week earlier.
Pyrum Innovations confirms it will begin construction of its second wholly owned end-of-life tyre recycling facility in the second half of this year. At a meeting on 6 February, the local council of Perl in Germany’s Saarland region overwhelmingly approved the project. Pyrum has taken initial steps by ordering the first components for the plant and has recently established a subsidiary dedicated to its operation, Pyrum GreenFactory II GmbH.
Uddevalla Municipality in Sweden has authorised Scandinavian Enviro Systems (Enviro) to proceed with the construction of its new joint venture end-of-life tyre recycling plant. This clearance comes after Enviro, Antin Infrastructure Partners, and Michelin reached a final decision on the project’s investment on 7 February. Having secured all essential environmental and construction approvals, Enviro anticipates commencing construction in the first quarter of 2024.
Pyrum Innovations is working to bring two new reactors into operation at its main Dillingen plant in Germany’s Saarland, trebling the facility’s capacity. It began a second test run of the first of these, reactor 2 (TAD 2), on 30 January and reports “initial successes” towards the reactor’s commissioning.
At the start of January, Pyrum Innovations established a wholly owned subsidiary to operate its second pyrolysis tyre recycling plant. This ‘Pyrum GreenFactory II GmbH’ facility is located in Perl-Besch on the Moselle, in Germany’s Saarland region, and will enter service by the end of 2025. Pyrum has modelled the plant on its main site in nearby Dillingen/Saar, and when operational it will double the company’s recycling capacity to 40,000 tonnes of used tyres per annum. Pyrum says it already starting to order certain plant components – those with “notoriously long delivery times” – in the first quarter of 2024.
Tyre makers often refer to the ‘race to road’ technology transfer when talking about motorsport engagements, but ‘race to loading bay’ is something that perhaps only Continental can claim bragging rights for. The tyre maker is using carbon black from recycled racing tyres in its production of solid tyres.
Pyrum Innovations has dropped plans to build a pyrolysis tyre recycling plant at Homburg, in Germany’s Saarland – but is still confident of setting up its second facility within the originally-announced timeframe, more or less. The company has already identified a potential new location.
A scientific study conducted by researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute highlights the CO2 savings the pyrolysis process offers over conventional means of tyre recycling. Titled ‘A comparative life cycle assessment of tyre recycling using pyrolysis compared to conventional end-of-life pathways’, the study contrasts Pyrum Innovations’ pyrolysis process against three other end-of-life tyre disposal methods.
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