A joint venture between Enviro and Antin, and supported by Michelin, is set to build end-of-life tire recycling plants in Europe with the aim of producing sustainable raw materials, including recovered carbon black and oils, which can be re-used within the tire and petrochemical sectors.
With up to 3.5 million tons of end-of-life tires being disposed in Europe each year, the JV will focus on establishing plants in Europe to help solve the growing number of waste tires, while also increasing the continent’s strategic autonomy of valuable raw materials currently facing growing supply constraints. As future plants are built, Michelin plans to join the JV as a partner, with a multi-year supply agreement with the tire maker secured for the first plants established. The agreement with Michelin also includes delivery of recovered carbon black and tire pyrolysis oil (TPO).
Enviro’s patented technology will be licensed to the JV exclusively in Europe. The company will also be responsible for R&D in addition to being the market-facing agent for sales. The initial full-scale commercial plant will be constructed in Uddevalla, Sweden, and will have the capacity to recycle up to 34,500 tons of end-of-life tires to begin with – 40% of Sweden’s annual end-of-life tires. Construction is planned to begin in the first half of 2023, ahead of becoming fully operational in 2025. Once the Uddevalla site has been successfully commissioned, the partners will accelerate the rollout across Europe.
To enable a rapid rollout, selection of other European sites has already begun, with the JV aiming to build recycling capacity for up to an estimated one million tons of end-of-life tires by 2030, equating to a third of all of Europe’s annual waste tires.
“With Antin’s successful track record in scaling infrastructure platforms and its strong industrial understanding, and Michelin’s world-leading position in sustainable tires, we have found excellent partners to jointly accelerate our pan-European plant expansion and contribute to making the tire industry circular,” said Alf Blomqvist, chairman of Scandinavian Enviro Systems. “We will now be able to focus on our core business and competencies such as technology and material development, optimization and quality control.”
“Enviro’s patented pyrolysis technology and its highly experienced management team, combined with Michelin’s world leading position in sustainable tires, makes this an ideal platform,” commented Anand Jagannathan and Rodolphe Brumm, NextGen partners at Antin Infrastructure Partners. “Antin has always been at the forefront of identifying key areas of tomorrow’s infrastructure and we believe this JV will play a critical role in accelerating Europe’s circular economy.”
“Today’s announcement is a significant step in our ambition to achieve a circular and more sustainable tire production,” said Maude Portigliatti, executive vice president of high-tech materials – member of the group executive committee, Michelin. “This is further proof of Michelin’s ability to step up to achieve its 2050 strategic ambitions and reduce the tire’s overall environmental impact by forging innovative partnerships for an ever more circular industry.”
