U.S. energy firm, Norwegian tire recycler Wastefront partnering

OSLO, Norway — Startup tire recycling company Wastefront A/S has struck a deal with Devaltec L.L.C., a Houston-based energy projects developer, to help it with project development over the coming five years.

Oslo-based Wastefront uses what it calls a proprietary form of pyrolysis to break down waste tires into a combustible gas, liquid hydrocarbons, carbon black, water and heat.

It has one project under way — a 72,000 metric ton/year facility in Sunderland, England — that's scheduled for completion in 2022 and which will serve as the basis for additional plants.

The full-scale plant, to be built on a site in the Port of Sunderland, will have a daily capacity to process 180 tons of scrap tire waste a day, which should yield 60 tons of carbon black, Wastefront said.

Devaltec, which develops new and sustainable energy projects, is contracted to deliver production from multiple plants of at minimum 1,000 tons/day, including the Sunderland plant, Wastefront said.

"Wastefront's ambition is to become the world leader on tire recycling, building a profitable growth company while at the same time solving a global environmental problem," Wastefront CEO Inge Berge said.

"We believe Devaltec's industrial background and project experience will play a key part in realizing Wastefront's potential."

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Devaltec CEO Vianney Valès said the partnership "brings together two companies with complementary skills, able to capture significant value in sustainable energy and waste recycling."

Wastefront claims to have a proprietary take on pyrolysis that allows it to "minimize the environmental impact typically associated with traditional tire pyrolysis," the companies said in a statement.