Klean Industries Inc., a cleantech company specialized in the conversion of waste into energy and recovered resources, reports it has been engaged to complete a Detailed Feasibility Study (“DFS”) to design and build a tire pyrolysis plant in Greece with Pyrolysis Hellas SA. For the past few years, the two companies have been working together to explore the possibilities of cooperation for the rollout of several facilities through the European Union. With the initial round of funding now completed, both parties are ready to engage upon the next stages of development, feedstock procurement and site design, as a suitable site has been secured and planning permission is underway.

As both parties begin the final detailed analysis to complete the DFS and the due diligence needed to properly plan such an endeavor, the companies say they are excited about the prospects of playing a significant role in creating the circular economy within the region. According to Klean Industries, this project will address several key issues designated under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and will create opportunities and benefits for the local economy in Greece.

Tire pyrolysis & tyre gasification equipment manufacturing facilities of Klean Industries. | Video by .

The parties plan to complete the DFS by the end of June 2021 and anticipate the project being financed before the end of 2021, with construction taking place in 2022 and operations starting in 2023. It’s envisioned that with Klean’s intellectual property and know-how for the processing of scrap tires and its ability to apply its proven portfolio of IP on a global basis, starting with an operating tire recycling facility in Greece will shorten the project development cycle. This project is expected to transform end-of-life tires into high quality, valuable raw materials primarily a high grade recovered carbon black (“rCB”) and recovered fuel oil or what is known as pyrolysis oil akin to an MDO oil. This plant will be fully integrated with Klean’s proprietary tire char upgrading system that enables the economic conversion of low-value tire char into high-value carbon black replacements which can replace virgin Carbon Black by volumes of 10% up to 100% depending on the specific application. Klean estimates that the carbon emission offsets from the Pyrolysis Hellas facility will be in excess of 100,000 metric tons annually.

“It’s an exciting time to be working with like-minded partners in Europe who understand the challenges and the benefits of taking a holistic approach to tire recycling. Both parties bring significant experience to the table with existing operations and financial backing to make such projects a reality in the European Union,” commented Jesse Klinkhamer, Klean Industries CEO.

Each year 1.6 billion tires are sold worldwide, representing more than 26 million metric tons, and just as many tires each year also fall into the category of end-of-life tires (“ELT”) providing a large and partially untapped potential for resource and material recovery.

As reported by the company, Klean is currently working with several members of the European consortium known as BlackCycle which was funded by the European Union (“EU”) in May 2020. The BlackCycle project involves 13 organizations in a unique European public-private partnership that will demonstrate the technical, environmental and economic viability of creating a world’s first circular economic process function within a complete supply chain using tires as the poster child for this exciting endeavor. The consortium plans to develop specific solutions to produce sustainable raw material for new tire manufacturing. The goal according to BlackCycle is to see one out of every two European ELTs incorporated into such a solution cycle for the recovery of end-of-life products. The consortium covers five European countries: France, Spain, Germany, Greece and Switzerland and includes seven industrial parties, five RTOs and an innovation cluster. Coordinated by Michelin, the consortium has designed an effective governance system involving a steering committee, a cluster synergies board and a technical support committee. The BlackCycle project aims to create, develop and optimize a full value chain from ELT feedstock to secondary raw materials (SRMs) which will be used to develop new ranges of passenger car and truck tires for commercial sales in Europe and the global markets.

Working with key partners in the BlackCycle program will further enable the adoption and development of the circular economy for waste tires in Greece and the EU, by creating a project that recycles tires into new raw materials for the construction of new tires from end-of-life tires. As a result of ongoing developments, it’s anticipated that this project will work with some of the largest global carbon black manufacturers and several tire manufacturers, including some of the largest rubber compounders in the marketplace who all see the market potential and opportunity for rCB to offset both emissions and costs associated to the traditional carbon black industry.

About Klean

Klean comprises an international team of award-winning experts with decades of experience in the design, manufacturing and deployment of alternative energy solutions, including clean power production, waste management, recycling, and resource recovery. The company currently boasts an impressive portfolio of clean technologies and patents that have been successfully deployed in many tire recycling and tire pyrolysis recycling facilities globally. Klean is rapidly rolling out a number of rubber pyrolysis projects in North America and Europe dedicated to the production of high-quality ASTM recovered carbon black known as rCB.

Press release by Klean Industries.