Norwegian waste tire recycling company Wastefront has announced Technip Energies as its engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) partner for a £100m (US$135.5m) tire recycling plant set to be built in Sunderland, UK.
Technip Energies was selected after a competitive project analysis and execution pathway study phase was carried out to review the earlier project development work and identify, eliminate and mitigate project risk. The company is currently consolidating the engineering design.
Construction of Wastefront’s plant is scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2022, with Technip Energies set to accompany the build until the plant’s planned startup in Q1 of 2024.
Wastefront and Technip Energies have also agreed a strategic partnership under which the duo will deploy Wastefront’s projects on an international scale. The plant in Sunderland will be used as a blueprint for the global replication of a uniquely circular model.
When fully operational, the Sunderland facility will have the capacity to process up to 80,000 tons of end-of-life tires annually. Each year, 29 million metric tons of end-of-life tires are produced worldwide and Wastefront plans to build a global green industrial platform to recycle these into reusable, high-value products.
“Our mission is to solve complex environmental issues through a solution that has demonstrated its full alignment with EU/UK taxonomy targets,” commented Vianney Valès, CEO of Wastefront. “To succeed, a rigorous approach to project execution is key. Having Technip Energies, one of the most respected EPC [engineering, procurement and construction] companies in the world, endorse our approach and support our project is yet another step in our ambition to build a world-scale green industrial platform.”
“We are extremely pleased to support Wastefront in their development,” said Arnaud Pieton, CEO of Technip Energies. “This project, which leverages both our engineering and project management capabilities, will be led by our teams in the UK. It is fully aligned with our strategy to deploy our know-how and our resources to scaling up solutions accelerating the energy transition journey, as well as positioning our company as a leading player of the circular economy.”