Sustainable Development Goals
PROJECT AT A GLANCE:
Project Status:
FEED to FID in Progress
Organizations Involved:
Pyrolysis Hellas, Karabas European Hellenic Recycling, Niersberger, European Union, Leading Oil Refinery & Chemical Company
Services / Equipment:
Feasibility Studies, Due Diligence, Component Supply
Klean identified two routes to strengthen the Greek project’s economics: increase capacity from 20,000 to at least 40,000 tonnes per year, or use grant support to reduce the capital burden. The later Greek development announced a 45,000-tonne-per-year design and €29.4 million in EU funding.
That comparison captures an important part of our value. Developing tyre recycling requires understanding how technology, product quality, plant scale and finance work together. In Greece, Klean applied that knowledge to an established recycler’s ambition to move beyond a saturated rubber-granule market into recovered carbon black and oil production.
Create more value from the tyres already being collected
Karabas European Hellenic Recycling SA (KEHR), founded in 1999, had an established business collecting and processing scrap tyres into granules, rubber powder and shock-absorbent surfacing products. Through Pyrolysis Hellas, its joint venture with Corinth Capital, the opportunity was to add a new level of resource recovery to that existing industrial foundation.
Our original market assessment described a saturated Greek market for granulated tyre products, estimated annual scrap-tyre generation at approximately 100,000 tonnes, and recorded gate fees of €25–€50 per tonne. It also cited annual tyre imports of 47,000–50,000 tonnes, with commercial truck tyres accounting for approximately 43%. These figures formed the historical market context for the proposed development.
The commercial opportunity was to turn an established waste stream into materials with additional industrial uses. For KEHR, that meant building on its collection and mechanical-processing experience to enter markets for recovered carbon and oil. Klean brought the technology and development knowledge needed to evaluate that transition as a complete business.
Integrate pyrolysis with the upgrading that creates a usable carbon product
Our January 2021 development announcement set out the Detailed Feasibility Study engagement with PHS. The original proposal was a 20,000-tonne-per-year facility at KEHR’s existing industrial site in Moulkia, with a new process building for tyre pyrolysis and recovered-product manufacture.
The proposed configuration combined our commercially deployed carbonization technology with its proprietary tyre-char upgrading system. This integration is central to the case: the ambition extended through to a finished carbon product that manufacturers could use in suitable applications. Our ownership of that technology is confirmed by the Niersberger Group’s engineering reference letter (PDF).
Our 2021 announcement described virgin carbon black substitution potential ranging from 10% to 100%, depending on the specific application, using its upgrading technology. Product formulation and performance requirements determine the appropriate substitution level. That application knowledge connects the recovery process to the value of the material being sold.
The project’s quality objectives included relevant rCB characterization and testing under the standards work of ASTM Committee D36, together with planned ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 management-system certification. These objectives connected product consistency and plant management to the needs of industrial customers.
Advance the project through a significant permitting milestone
In February 2022, Klean announced completion of Phase II of the PHS feasibility study and environmental authorization. The Environmental Impact Study had been approved and the corresponding Environmental License awarded. Klean described it, to its knowledge at the time, as Greece’s first fully authorized tyre pyrolysis and carbon-upgrading project.
That achievement gave the proposed integrated process a concrete development milestone in Greece. It demonstrated progress from a recycling opportunity to an industrial project with an approved environmental basis.
A quantified opportunity to manufacture circular commodities
For the original 20,000-tonne-per-year proposal, Klean projected the following approximate annual outputs and benefits:
| Original Project Model | Projected Output / Benefit |
|---|---|
| Tyres processed | Approximately 2 million tyres per year |
| Recovered carbon black | 7,600 tonnes per year |
| Recovered oil | 9,000 tonnes per year, targeting marine-fuel applications |
| Recovered steel | 3,000 tonnes per year |
| CO₂ emissions benefit | Approximately 35,000 tonnes per year of projected emissions offsets |
| Employment | 25–45 full-time jobs and approximately 100 construction jobs |
These are our original project projections. The marine-fuel pathway depends on the specified oil quality and downstream requirements; the emissions figure represents the project model’s anticipated benefit. The figures show the scale of the proposed resource recovery and regional economic contribution.
Identify the scale and funding structure needed to make the opportunity work
As interest rates, logistics costs and construction inputs rose, Klean concluded that the original 20,000-tonne-per-year configuration would struggle to service its debt under the assessed conditions. Its commercial recommendation was specific: increase the project to a minimum of 40,000 tonnes per year, or obtain EU grant assistance that could improve the smaller facility’s economics. Financeable offtake agreements were also central to the development strategy.
This is the kind of judgment that matters before a developer commits major capital. Klean connected the processing opportunity to the capital structure required to support it, identifying how the development needed to change as costs changed.
Our feasibility and permitting work underpinned the funding
In November 2025, the Greek development secured €29.4 million in European Innovation Fund support, with a planned capacity of approximately 45,000 tonnes per year and an investment of around €100 million. The reactor design for the funded build uses a different technology provider, but the feasibility study and environmental permitting that made the project eligible and bankable for that fundingwere completed by Klean.
That is the deeper point of this case. Our DFS had concluded, years earlier, that the 20,000-tonne configuration could not service its debt and that greater scale and EU grant support were required. The funding decision then reached the same conclusion—45,000 tonnes and €29.4 million in EU support, the exact combination our feasibility work identified. Our contribution was the foundation: the completed feasibility study and Greece’s first full environmental authorization for a tyre pyrolysis and carbon-upgrading project.
1. Klean connects recycling experience to higher-value manufacturing.
The proposed integration of pyrolysis and proprietary char upgrading created a route from conventional granulation into carbon and oil markets.
2. Our feasibility and permitting work was the foundation for the funding.
Greece’s first fully authorized tyre pyrolysis project secured €29.4 million in EU support at 45,000 tonnes per year — the scale and grant combination our DFS had identified years earlier.
3. The original study quantified a substantial industrial opportunity.
Its projections included 7,600 tonnes of rCB, 9,000 tonnes of oil and 3,000 tonnes of steel annually, alongside a modeled emissions benefit and regional employment.
These takeaways highlight selected lessons from this case study, not an exhaustive account. Klean brings deeper technical expertise and commercial insight to each project through tailored engagements.
If you operate a tyre collection or granulation business, the next opportunity may be to manufacture higher-value products from the material already moving through your operation. The Greek case shows why that transition benefits from a partner who understands the complete process and its commercial requirements.
We can help connect feedstock preparation, pyrolysis, carbon upgrading and product markets with the scale and investment structure your project needs. Engage us while those choices can still shape the business you intend to build.
Our paid development pathway progresses from a Detailed Equipment Quotation (DEQ) through a Detailed Feasibility Study (DFS) to Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED). Each stage develops the technical and commercial basis for the next investment decision.
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ABOUT THE INFORMATION PRESENTED
This case study shares selected project information and our original development projections. Commercial agreements, detailed models and proprietary know-how remain subject to confidentiality and the permissions of the parties involved. Project-specific disclosures are addressed within an agreed 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”.
