Recycling firm Unisphere Waste Conversion Ltd. stands to earn millions from its outstanding contracts for tire remediation and tire-derived fuel supply, according to the company.
Toronto-based Unisphere expects to earn about $5 million from its contract with the Quebec government to finish remediation of the Grenier, Quebec, scrap tire site, said Unisphere Technical Director Bruce Jank.
The process at Grenier should take about two years, with at least some of the rubber going as 1.5-inch by 1.5-inch chips for Buffalo Fuel Corp. of Niagara Falls, N.Y., according to Mr. Jank. Unisphere will start shipping tire chips to Buffalo Fuel in August, he added, but he declined to mention quantities or the value of the Buffalo Fuel contract. Officials at Buffalo Fuel could not be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, Unisphere also has won a one-year contract to locate one of its mobile Columbus McKinnon tire shredders at Tri City Services, of Guelph, Ontario, to shred radial truck tires into 2-inch x 2-inch chips. This contract will bring Unisphere approximately $1 million and is renewable for another year, Mr. Jank said.
Unisphere's ultimate corporate goal is to open a tire pyrolysis plant in Belledune, New Brunswick, based on the technology it licensed in 2002 from Finnish company Metso Corp. But that project has been put on hold because of environmental and financing issues at the site, according to Mr. Jank. The company had hoped to have the facility onstream this November.
Instead, Unisphere is now focused on completing its deal, announced last November, to buy three interrelated rubber recycling firms in Chatham, Ontario-Chatham Rubber Manufacturing Corp., Wellington Polymer Technology Inc. and Entireco.
Wellington is famous for its Enviroshake roofing products, the sort of market Unisphere is most eager to enter, Mr. Jank said. ``We're concentrating on high-end, high-value-added products.''