Norwegian waste-to-energy company Wastefront has broken ground on its previously-announced tyre-to-fuel plant – aimed at producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) – in the UK.
The £100m Sunderland plant will be the UK’s first large-scale waste tyres processing facility dedicated to the SAF value chain.
It was announced in January that Aer Lingus and British Airways owner IAG has invested in Wastefront.
It is envisaged that the plant will become operational next year and will start processing up to 10 million waste tyres per year from 2027.
The Sunderland facility will make the SAF by converting waste tyres into tyre derived oil, which is then refined into road fuels and SAF. The SAF produced is expected to give life cycle carbon emission savings of over 80% versus fossil fuels.
The new plant is viewed as being critical in the UK’s SAF mandate, requiring at least 10% of all jet fuel used in flights departing the UK to come from sustainable feedstocks by 2030, rising to 22% by 2040. Achieving the UK’s 2030 SAF target will require producing 1.2 million tonnes of SAF annually for the aviation industry – almost 20 times the UK’s estimated production of 64,000 tonnes in 2023, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Vianney Valès, CEO of Wastefront, stated: “Wastefront is delivering an innovative project to focus on two key issues: tyre waste and aviation emissions. Our circular process not only prevents millions of tyres from being discarded in landfills but also provides a scalable, cost-effective pathway for SAF production. This process will also reduce lifecycle emissions by more than 80% compared to fossil fuels. The Sunderland facility is just the beginning – we aim to expand rapidly to meet the growing demand for sustainable fuels.”
Jonathon Counsell, IAG’s Group Sustainability Officer, commented: “Last year IAG powered 1.9% of our operations using SAF and we are pleased to support Wastefront’s pioneering work to turn waste tyres into much-needed, domestically produced renewable fuel. To enable aviation to meet the UK’s new mandate and growing SAF demand, there needs to be even greater policy support so manufacturers and innovators like Wastefront can scale new technologies.”
With an estimated 4 billion tyres currently sitting in landfills or stockpiles – a number projected to reach 5 billion by 2030 – Wastefront recognises the global scale of tyre waste and the rising demand for sustainable fuels, and is actively exploring opportunities in the US, the Middle East, and Northern Europe.
