Sustainable Development Goals
PROJECT INFORMATION AT A GLANCE:
Project Status:
On hold; feasibility and pre-FEED development
Organizations Involved:
Klean Industries (UK) Ltd (KIU), NISP, Defra, Intowaste, Credential Environmental, Greenergy, OSS Group and other retailers and recyclers; UK RTFO as the fuel-policy framework examined
Services / Equipment:
Design & Engineering, Due Diligence, Supply Chain Management, Component Supply
Our UK tyre recovery development connected a domestic waste resource with the industries that could use its recovered oil and carbon. Through Klean Industries (UK) Ltd, the work brought continuous tyre pyrolysis, collection networks, product offtake and transport-fuel policy into one project-development effort.
The commercial objective was to retain more of the value in UK end-of-life tyres through domestic processing and useful industrial products. The project remains on hold, with feasibility and pre-FEED development recorded. Its contribution is the work connecting the technology with the feedstock, customers and market conditions needed to support an investable facility.
The Challenge
Turn a national waste stream into dependable plant supply
Our published project account cites approximately 350,000–400,000 tonnes of UK end-of-life tyres annually and an 85% export share. Those figures frame the market opportunity described in the account: a substantial domestic resource whose collection and commercial destinations were heavily influenced by exports.
For a UK processing facility, national tyre volumes had to translate into reliable deliveries at workable commercial terms. Collection, aggregation, transport costs and competition from export outlets all influenced how much feedstock could be secured for domestic recovery.
The product side was equally important. Recovered oil needed an identified processing route and customer; recovered carbon needed upgrading and a defined specification. Transport-fuel incentives could add value only where the finished fuel, its eligible fraction and its end use met the relevant requirements.
Make the industrial and commercial requirements work together
The development also addressed the gap between small-scale pyrolysis demonstrations and sustained industrial operation. Our approach linked technology selection with continuous processing, product consistency and the arrangements required to bring materials into and out of the plant.
That made the assignment broader than equipment selection. The proposed facility needed a supply chain and product markets capable of supporting the capacity being considered.
The Solution
Develop the collection and customer relationships around the process
We worked with UK waste-sector and industrial-market participants on tyre supply and recovered-product demand. The project account identifies NISP, Intowaste, Credential Environmental, Greenergy and OSS Group among the organizations involved, alongside retailers and recyclers.
This work connected the collection end of the market with the intended users of the outputs. Feedstock availability informed the scale of the proposed processing system, while the customer’s requirements informed oil conditioning, carbon upgrading and product handling.
Apply a continuous processing basis
We brought commercial pyrolysis experience to the UK process selection. The development considered its continuous horizontal kiln technology within a 30–240 tonnes per day capacity range. That range describes the technology configurations considered for development, allowing the processing concept to be matched to feedstock and commercial requirements.
The proposed system connected tyre preparation and conversion with oil recovery, carbon upgrading and steel recovery. The oil and carbon routes were central to the commercial case, with process gas also relevant to the plant’s energy balance.
This is where our integration expertise matters: the useful output is a product that the next industrial user can accept consistently. Conversion equipment, upgrading and customer requirements therefore have to be developed together.
Connect recovered oil with a qualifying fuel pathway
The UK work examined the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) as part of the oil’s commercial pathway. Tyres contain natural rubber and fossil-derived materials, so the renewable contribution must be established for the relevant products. Oil conditioning or refinery processing, carbon performance, traceability and the qualifying end use determine the pathway’s value.
For eligible transport-fuel supply, support depends on meeting the scheme’s requirements and substantiating the eligible portion. Our development approach treated the fuel route and its commercial basis as part of project design. The objective was to connect the recovered oil with an appropriate customer and a supportable product specification.
Develop carbon products and assess hydrogen recovery
The carbon route targeted recovered carbon black for rubber, tyre and plastics applications. Upgrading the pyrolysis carbon and demonstrating the properties required by the intended customer were essential to that objective. Product quality determines where recovered carbon can be used and the commercial terms it can command.
The project concept also included hydrogen recovery from process gas. This represents an additional upgrading option whose viability and carbon intensity depend on the gas composition, treatment, energy supply and intended use.
Together, these routes show the breadth of the development: matching recovered oil and carbon with industrial applications while evaluating how the gas stream could contribute further value.
Bring domestic recovery into the policy discussion
Our work included engagement on waste policy and transport-fuel requirements. Its project account records advocacy for tighter controls on whole and baled tyre exports and for producer-responsibility measures that could strengthen legitimate domestic recovery.
The commercial purpose was to improve the conditions under which UK tyre-processing investment could compete for feedstock. More dependable domestic supply, appropriate oversight and clearer product-market requirements would support facilities designed to recover value within the UK.
The Outcome
A development case spanning technology and market formation
The project brought feasibility and pre-FEED development together with work on tyre sourcing, industrial product outlets and policy engagement. It remains on hold, with the commercial and regulatory context central to the case described by Klean.
The UK experience demonstrates our ability to connect the engineering of a recovery facility with the market around it. The 30–240 tonnes per day technology range gave the development a scalable processing basis; the feedstock and offtake work addressed how that capacity could be supplied and how its outputs could reach customers.
The wider lesson is commercially significant. Domestic tyre recovery can retain material value, support industrial supply and create an outlet for waste, but those benefits depend on the collection network, processing route and product market working together. Our UK development addressed those relationships as part of the investment proposition.
1. Feedstock security determines usable project scale. The UK work connected a substantial national tyre stream and export competition with the practical task of securing domestic plant supply.
2. We develop the market connections around its technology. The initiative combined a 30–240 tonnes per day continuous-processing range with oil and carbon applications, supply-chain development and policy engagement.
3. Product value depends on the route to the customer. Oil upgrading, fuel eligibility and recovered-carbon specifications shape the commercial case alongside conversion performance.
These are selected achievements and lessons. Further technical and commercial insights are available through an engagement with Klean.
WHAT DO THESE LESSONS MEAN FOR YOUR PROJECT?
Bring the intended feedstock and product market into the engineering decision from the beginning. We can help connect tyre supply, process configuration, oil upgrading and recovered-carbon applications with the requirements of the proposed industrial customers.
For a new equipment development, the appropriate starting point is a paid Detailed Equipment Quotation (DEQ), followed by a Detailed Feasibility Study (DFS) and Front-End Engineering Design (FEED). The engagement package explains the work; the paid DEQ proposal provides the preliminary technical and commercial information. Market-development and advisory assignments are scoped to the specific opportunity, with confidential project information addressed through agreed terms and appropriate confidentiality arrangements.
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ABOUT THE INFORMATION PRESENTED
This case describes a UK development initiative that began in 2007 and is on hold. The market figures are attributed to our published project account, and the capacity range describes the technology considered. Product pathways and intended benefits describe the development concept. Supporting studies, commercial arrangements and policy correspondence are subject to confidentiality and available within an appropriately scoped engagement.
This project addresses the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by considering the goals and associated targets illustrated by the WBCSD’s Tire Industry Project (TIP). TIP provides a framework for action that outlines impactful pathways for the tire sector to contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To learn more about how our approach, solutions, and technologies contribute to advancing the SDGs, please review the report “Sustainability Driven: Accelerating Impact with the Tire Sector SDG Roadmap”.
