Vitol to buy liquid products made from waste tyres

Trading company Vitol has formed an offtake agreement with Norwegian firm Wastefront planning to produce liquid products from used tyres.

Using its own methods and conventional tyre pyrolysis, Oslo-based Wastefront will produce liquid hydrocarbons including naphtha, distillates and marine fuels from waste tyres. The company is developing a plant at Sunderland in the UK, scheduled to be completed in 2023, which will be able to process 60,000t of waste tyres a year.

Vitol has agreed the framework for a 10-year offtake agreement with Wastefront under which it will buy up to 30,000t of liquid products a year.

Wastefront said combining its own technology with existing methods will reduce the process' environmental footprint.

"Wastefront's business model sits at the intersection of waste reduction and decarbonisation, both key to addressing current environmental challenges," Vitol said. "With the appropriate expertise, we believe these new fuels can be successfully integrated into the energy system."

Vitol owns half of Cockett Group, one of the world's largest traders of marine fuel.

By Nana Kutin