Circtec inaugurates phase 1 of Dutch tire pyrolysis plant

On January 27, Circtec held the opening ceremony for Phase 1 of its end-of-life tyre pyrolysis recycling facility at Delfzijl, the Netherlands. The plant is now in operation, recycling 50,000 tons of waste tyres per year into sustainable raw materials. The ceremony was attended by King Willem-Alexander, who officially commenced plant operations by feeding waste tyres into the recycling process himself. Other attendees included the Netherlands Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Climate and Green Growth and the British Ambassador to The Netherlands.

In its pyrolysis and upgrading processes, CIRCTEC produces (i) its proprietary

sustainable marine fuel HUPATM, (ii) circular naphtha for responsibly sourced plastics, polymers and chemicals, and (iii) high-quality recovered carbon black for use back into tyres, rubber and plastics manufacturing. The plant can also supply Tyre Pyrolysis Oil as sustainable feedstock to petrochemical plants and refineries.

Circtec plans to commence construction of Phase 2 of the plant later this year, which will expand the plant capacity in a modular fashion up to a total plant recycling capacity of 200,000 tonnes per year of waste tyres. The Delfzijl plant is the culmination of a 15-year technology and product development process. Long-term offtake partnerships have previously been announced for the entire output of the products from the new Circtec plant: (i) Birla Carbon, one of the world’s largest producers of carbon black, has contracted the output of recovered carbon black (rCB). This is supplied to Birla Carbon for their

Continua flagship decarbonization product line. (ii) bp has contracted the output of the HUPA, circular naphtha and Tyre Pyrolysis Oil. Investment funds Novo Holdings and A.P. Moller Holding previously announced the successful closure of a €150 million funding round to back Circtec in May 2024. Circtec is planning the development of several plant projects globally over the next few years, as direct owner-operator plants and as joint-venture licensing partnerships.