Norwegian waste tyre recycling firm Wastefront raises €38.4M in a partnership with VTTI

Oslo-based Wastefront, a waste tyre recycling company that converts old tyres into new commodities, announced on Thursday that it has secured $43M (approximately €38.49M) in a strategic partnership with energy storage infrastructure provider VTTI.

VTTI also said it will collaborate with Wastefront on the deployment of eight world-scale tyre recycling plants on VTTI properties, utilising Wastefront’s Blueprint licensing.

“A green global industrial platform”

Wastefront’s goal is to decrease the negative environmental effect of End-of-Life-Tyres (ELTs) waste as well as provide an economically appealing solution to key partners on a worldwide scale. 

With a circular process, the company blends commercial technologies with its own process, to reduce the environmental damage generally associated with traditional tyre pyrolysis.

Wastefront was founded in 2019 by Vegard Bringsjord and Inge Berge, and is currently led by CEO Vianney Vales.

The first industrial facility in Sunderland will be constructed in two phases, with the first phase of operation requiring a £100M investment.

When operating at maximum efficiency, the plant will process 83,000 metric tonnes of ELTs each year and turn them into products including biofuels, recycled steel, and recovered carbon black. The future plants using the Wastefront Blueprint licence will be held to this standard.

Wastefront uses pyrolytic reactors to thermally depolymerise, or ‘pyrolysis’, the components of a tyre at high temperatures. Tyres are fed through these reactors, which also create combustible gas, liquid hydrocarbon (pyrolysis oil), and heat in addition to carbon black. 

The carbon black is then washed and milled to upgrade the chemical properties. It is used as a reinforcement for natural rubber in tyre production, mechanical rubber goods, or as a filler for plastics, under precise formulations defined by customers.

How will VTTI’s partnership help Wastefront?

VTTI is supported by major energy and infrastructure players Vitol, IFM Investors and ADNOC (the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company) and claims to be one of the world’s largest independent suppliers of energy storage facilities with key locations all over the world.

The investment in Wastefront and anticipated investments in future plants are part of VTTI’s worldwide expansion strategy. Its goal is to conduct over 50 per cent of its activities in new and transitional energy sources by 2028.

The partnership between VTTI and Wastefront will begin with a $43M investment from VTTI in Wastefront, which will be utilised to build the first phase of Wastefront’s factory in Sunderland (UK).

Second, site selection studies will be carried out to identify eight jointly owned VTTI-Wastefront factories where Wastefront’s solution will be installed and administered by VTTI. 

With this deal, Wastefront will be able to accelerate deployment thanks to VTTI’s knowledge, existing worldwide presence, and terminal locations.

Wastefront Blueprint licencing

Since its inception, Wastefront has created a Blueprint to address the yearly expected disposal of 31 million metric tonnes of ELTs, which is a significant environmental problem.

Most ELTs nowadays globally are either disposed in landfills or burned. As an alternative, Wastefront provides circularity and the opportunity to chemically recycle ELTs into useful items.

The Wastefront Blueprint is now officially licenced for worldwide deployment thanks to the strategic cooperation with VTTI. Wastefront’s first facility in the Northeast of England, in the Port of Sunderland, will apply the Wastefront Blueprint. 

Construction on the facility is set to begin this year, and it is anticipated to be completely operational by 2026.

Vianney Vales says, “Our mission to create a Green Global Industrial Platform to solve the end-of-life tyre problem, requires buy-in from major industrial companies. VTTI is a leading infrastructure company with a clear mission to grow in the energy transition and I am delighted to announce our partnership.”

“This is the first time that our Wastefront Blueprint solution for circularity will be licensed on a global stage. VTTI has opted to go a step further and not just deploy our solution but also invest in Wastefront and in future plants.”

“The investment will immediately enable us to scale our work at the Port of Sunderland, and to grow our market reach with the development of eight plants at VTTI sites worldwide,” adds Vales.