The British Circtec, which wants to recycle car tires in Delfzijl, has signed a multi-million contract with British Petroleum (BP). Circtec Delfzijl is therefore actually sold out a year before the factory is operational.
After a long permit process, Circtec started construction activities in Delfzijl earlier this year, the company has a plot of 21 hectares at its disposal.
Car tires become fuel, gases and carbon black
In Delfzijl, Circtec will process car tires via pyrolysis (heating at a high temperature). This ultimately produces three products: gases, fuel and carbon black that is recovered from the tire.
Circtec uses the gases itself in the factory. Circtec previously made agreements with Birla Carbon in the US about the purchase of carbon black (also known as carbon black). The carbon black is then used again for the production of car tires.
Tires from all over Europe
The new factory in Delfzijl now has a contract with BP for the purchase of 60,000 tons of renewable fuel for ships and 15,000 tons of petrochemical raw material for naphtha. The fuel for ships helps make maritime shipping greener, says Circtec.
Robert Harper, founder and CEO of Circtec says that the factory in Delfzijl will process 200,000 tons of waste tires. “These tires come from the Netherlands, but because our factory can process many more waste tires than there are in the Netherlands, we focus on tires from all over Europe.”
The construction of the factory requires an investment of 285 million euros, BP, among others, invests in the factory, 12.5 million. Harper says he will announce more about the financing this month. Circtec is expected to provide work for 100 to 150 people in Delfzijl.
Tires now mostly burned
Car tires are now often burned, often in countries such as Turkey, Morocco and India. Through the pyrolysis in Delfzijl, Harper expects to achieve a saving in CO2 emissions equal to 3 to 5 percent of the total emissions from the chemical industry in the Netherlands.
Circtec currently has factories in Poland and Germany. They are a lot smaller than the factory that is being built in Delfzijl. The British company wants to build similar factories in the US and Asia after Delfzijl.
The factory in Delfzijl will be built in two phases. The first phase costs 100 million.
Tags: car tires fuel ships Delfzijl Circtec factory sold starts
