Sustainable Development Goals
PROJECT INFORMATION 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 ways 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 Klean’s 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 and 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, operated an established business that collected and processed 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.
Klean’s 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 provided the historical market context for the proposed development.
The commercial opportunity was to convert an established waste stream into materials with additional industrial applications. 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 expertise needed to evaluate that transition as a complete business.
Integrate pyrolysis with the upgrading process that creates a usable carbon product
Klean’s January 2021 development announcement outlined the engagement for a Detailed Feasibility Study with PHS. The original proposal was for 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 manufacturing.
The proposed configuration combined Klean’s commercially deployed carbonization technology with its proprietary tyre-char upgrading system. This integration is central to the case: the ambition extends through to a finished carbon product that manufacturers could use in suitable applications. Klean’s ownership of that technology is confirmed by the Niersberger Group’s engineering reference letter (PDF).
Klean’s 2021 announcement described the potential for substituting virgin carbon black, 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 links the recovery process to the value of the material being sold.
The project’s quality objectives included relevant rCB characterization and testing in accordance with ASTM Committee D36 standards, along with planned ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 management-system certification. These objectives linked product consistency and plant management to the needs of industrial customers.
Advance the project to 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 had been awarded. To its knowledge at the time, it was Greece’s first fully authorized tyre pyrolysis and carbon-upgrading project.
That achievement marked a concrete development milestone for the proposed integrated process 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 Klean’s original project projections. The marine-fuel pathway depends on the specified oil quality and downstream requirements; the emissions figure reflects the project model’s anticipated benefit. The figures illustrate the scale of the proposed resource recovery and the regional economic contribution.
Identify the scale and funding structure required to make the opportunity viable
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 secure EU grant assistance to 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 linked the processing opportunity to the capital structure required to support it, identifying how the development needed to adapt as costs changed.
Klean’s 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 Klean completed the feasibility study and environmental permitting that made the project eligible and bankable for that funding.
That is the deeper point of this case. Klean’s 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, settling on 45,000 tonnes and €29.4 million in EU support, the exact combination Klean’s feasibility work identified. Klean’s 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 pathway from conventional granulation to the carbon and oil markets.
2. Klean’s 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 Klean’s DFS had identified years earlier.
3. The original study quantified a significant industrial opportunity.
Its projections included 7,600 tonnes of rCB, 9,000 tonnes of oil, and 3,000 tonnes of steel annually, along with modeled emissions benefits and regional employment.
These are selected insights from the project. A defined engagement with Klean applies its broader experience to your feedstock, product markets, technology requirements, and investment objectives.
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 entire process and its commercial requirements.
Klean can help connect feedstock preparation, pyrolysis, carbon upgrading and product markets with the scale and investment structure your project requires. 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) to a Detailed Feasibility Study (DFS) to Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED). Each stage builds the technical and commercial basis for the next investment decision.
Develop Your Tyre Recycling Project with Klean >> GO.
Learn More:
ABOUT THE INFORMATION PRESENTED
This case study presents selected project information and Klean’s original development projections. Commercial agreements, detailed models, and proprietary know-how remain confidential and subject to the parties’ permissions. Project-specific disclosures are addressed within an agreed engagement.
This project addresses the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by aligning with 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 Klean’s approach, solutions, and technologies contribute to advancing the SDGs, please review the report “Sustainability Driven: Accelerating Impact with the Tire Sector SDG Roadmap”.
