Wastefront AS – a Norwegian waste tire recycling company – was given permission to press ahead with plans to construct the ‘UK’s greenest tire recycling plant’ at Port of Sunderland.

Construction on the development is expected to begin this year (2022), with company executives confident that the plant will be in commercial operation by 2024, creating around 100 skilled jobs once in full operation.

The plant will use commercially operating technologies to convert end-of-life tires (ELTs) into useful commodities, including biofuels and recovered carbon black (rCB), which can then be reutilised in processes such as alternative fuel or raw materials for the production of new tires or other products.

An estimated 29 million metric tons of vehicle tires reach the end of their lifespan each year worldwide, representing an underreported but major cause of pollution due to their non-biodegradability. By converting tire waste into usable commodities, Wastefront offsets carbon emissions, with the alternative end-destination being incineration

The company’s decision to invest in Port of Sunderland was influenced by co-founder and director, Christian A. Hvamstad, an alumnus of the University of Sunderland. Speaking about the news he said:

“Our ambition is to create a Green Global Industrial Platform for dealing with waste issues, and a crucial element of sustainable waste handling is to be able to do so locally. Wastefront’s first UK plant will represent a valuable contribution to a cleaner future by dealing with a specific waste problem, where end-of-life tires no longer end up in landfills in overseas countries, but instead are converted into useful commodities that can be used within the region.”

To read more about the topic, please proceed to Wastefront’s website.