According to the latest Pyrum Innovations AG’s (Pyrum) press release, Pyrum and BASF Antwerpen NV have signed a new cooperation agreement on November 15, 2023. This provides for a conditional loan of initially EUR 25 million, available in tranches, which is intended to serve as start-up financing for the implementation of Pyrum Innovations AG's specific project pipeline by 2026. The subject of the agreement is the planning, project planning and construction of at least three new plants with an annual capacity of 20,000 tons of used tires each using the funds made available. Pyrum plans to use the funds in particular for the construction of the announced plant in Saarland as well as the equity contribution and co-financing of up to five of the projects announced in recent months with financially strong partners.

BASF's new commitment strengthens the trust of Pyrum customers and other financing partners who also want to invest in Pyrum's growth. Assuming that Pyrum will have secured additional financing of EUR 50 million, for example in the form of corporate bonds via the capital market, loans or investments from partners in jointly planned plants, BASF will provide a further EUR 25 million as a loan under appropriate conditions Provide Pyrum. Pyrum and BASF's goal is to significantly expand the company's production capacity. In September 2020, BASF invested in Pyrum Innovations AG as part of its ChemCycling ® project and has been purchasing pyrolysis oil from Pyrum since then. BASF feeds this oil into its production network and produces Ccycled® products, to which the recycled raw material is allocated using the mass balance approach. This saves fossil raw materials and contributes to the circular economy. The quantities of pyrolysis oil are to be increased significantly with the new plants.

Pascal Klein, CEO of Pyrum Innovations AG, said: “The phase between proving that a new technology works and generating stable results, i.e. the industrial rollout, is a very big challenge for companies after the startup phase in terms of financing. We are therefore very pleased about the valuable collaboration with BASF and the trust that BASF has once again placed in us with the new agreement. After the successful project acquisition phase of the last twelve months, nothing stands in the way of implementing our concrete rollout planning with the start of construction of up to six systems by the end of 2025. On the project side, we are virtually “sold out” by the end of 2026 and are now looking forward to implementation. The financing is the most important step towards the commercial rollout of our unique pyrolysis technology and is the basis for meeting the high demand for our products.”

Christoph Gahn, Head of Chemical Recycling at BASF, commented: “Thanks to Pyrum’s innovative and stable technology, we were able to feed the pyrolysis oil produced from used tires into our network as a recycled raw material. With the new agreement we want to support the scaling of the technology and expand our customer portfolio with mass-balanced Ccycled® products.”