Norway-based Wastefront AS has announced the Port of Sunderland in the United Kingdom has been chosen as the location for the construction of its first tire recycling plant. Construction is set to begin in 2021 on the project, which was announced in early July.

The plant is being designed to convert regionally sourced end-of-life tires (ELTs) into liquid hydrocarbons and carbon black, which can then be used in processes to make alternative fuels or rubber products manufacturing.

Wastefront projects the plant will be up and running in the second half of 2022. The company also says it has received funding from the Norwegian state-owned company and national development bank, Innovation Norway, and it is supported by the Research Council of Norway (Skattefunn). Wastefront also says it will be seeking additional investors in the U.K. and elsewhere.

The plant has been designed to include 12 pyrolytic reactors designed to break down a scrap tire’s materials at elevated temperatures. The full-scale plant will have a daily capacity to process 180 metric tons of scrap tires to produce 60 metric tons of carbon black per day.

Additionally, the plant will be able to produce 90 metric tons of liquid hydrocarbons per day, which can be refined to produce fuel products, such as ethane, propane, butane, diesel and gasoline, says Watefront. The heat generated from the facility’s processes will be repurposed locally within industry or to heat residential homes, adds the firm.

“The construction of our first-ever plant with the Port of Sunderland marks a huge step in Wastefront’s efforts to combat the global issue of ELT waste,” states Christian A. Hvamstad, Wastefront’s chief strategy officer, director and co-founder, who also is an alumnus of the University of Sunderland.

Comments Matthew Hunt, director at Port of Sunderland, “We are delighted that Wastefront has chosen to construct its first ever plant at Port of Sunderland, and we are looking forward to working with Christian and the team to bring their vision to life. Port of Sunderland is currently undergoing a major transformation, with over £8 million ($10.5 million) being pumped into improving its roads and infrastructure, and the decision by Wastefront to invest in the port shows just how much confidence this is breeding among our stakeholders and the wider market.”

Wastefront was founded in 2019 by its CEO Inge Berge, Hvamstad and its Chief Financial Officer Vegard Bringsjord.

PreZero US, headquartered in Los Angeles, has announced that it is sourcing plastic scrap grades Nos. 2-7 for processing at its facilities in Jurupa Valley, California, and Westminster, South Carolina. The company says it will pay competitive prices.

PreZero has begun processing low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and linear LDPE (LLDPE) film at its plant in Jurupa, California. PreZero brands its reprocessed resins as CoreFilm and now has the capacity to ship this material on a truckload basis. Examples of acceptable inbound material include grocery bags, shrink wrap and bubble wrap, the company says. This material is accepted in the form of Grade A and Grade B bales, which it then shreds, washes and pelletizes.

Prezero says it has plans for further development of its environmental campus in Jurupa, including the addition of a second plastics recycling line that will process mixed rigid plastics (MRP), in 2021.

The company also is ramping up operations in South Carolina, which are reprocessing MRP initially before adding LDPE and LLDPE film in the near future. PreZero says it will source MRP bales from material recovery facilities (MRFs) throughout the U.S. in addition to commercial generators and brokers.

Acceptable contamination in these bales is less than 20 percent by weight and includes polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, PET or polyvinyl chloride (PVC) thermoform packaging, other forms of PVC, polystyrene, paper, cardboard, labels, liquids and metal handles.

The company will produce recycled polypropylene (PP) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) resins through shredding, sorting, washing and palletizing in South Carolina. PreZero says it plans to expand this facility as well.

PreZero US says all of its recycled LDPE, PP and HDPE pellets will undergo testing for quality and consistency in an ASTM certified laboratory, ensuring that the company's manufacturing partners have the data they need for seamless integration into their molding processes to create new products.

In total, PreZero says it has invested more than $100 million in its facilities and plans to add processing facilities in more regions throughout the United States starting in 2021.

Paper Stock Industries (PSI), a national chapter of the Washington-based Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, is marking the 25th anniversary of its scholarship program with a $25,000 fundraising goal this fall. 

“Those funds will allow PSI to offer deserving students even more financial support in these challenging economic times to help them realize their academic dreams,” says Nini Krever, chair of PSI’s Scholarship Committee.

PSI founded its scholarship program in 1995 and has awarded more than $150,000 to more than 100 students since then. According to a news release from PSI, the chapter gave $2,000 scholarships to nine college-bound students this year. PSI scholarships go to dependents of employees of PSI member companies.

For the next round of scholarships, the chapter’s goal is to offer one grand-prize scholarship of $5,000 as well as several $2,500 awards. 

“College costs continue to rise,” Krever says, “so PSI wants to step up its scholarship awards to help students keep up with the financial demands of their higher education.”

Individuals interested in donating can visit paperstockindustries.org and click on the “Scholarships” menu item, then “Donate” to access the donation portal. Potential donors can contribute online through PayPal or print a donation form and return it to PSI with a check or credit card information. PSI also recognizes all donor companies in its marketing and promotional efforts. 

For more information on the PSI Chapter scholarship program, contact Nini Krever at (561) 762-7574 or nktraders@tradersintl.net.

Sims Lifecycle Services (SLS), a West Chicago, Illinois-based company focused on information technology asset disposition (ITAD) and electronics recycling, has opened its Innovation Center in Tampa, Florida. 

According to a news release from SLS, the new site is dedicating to increasing the redeployment, reuse and recyclability of retired IT equipment, including data center material.

SLS says the Innovation Center will “build on the success of past projects,” such as the HP plastics project. Through that project, HP and SLS have partnered to create a sustainable plastics recovery strategy. The center also will accelerate the creation and adoption of new sustainability opportunities. 

“We have put resources into creating cleaner commodity streams to increase recyclability, and with our new Innovation Center we can build on those efforts and help create products that are highly reusable, reducing everyone's carbon footprint,” says Sean Magann, global vice president of sales and marketing for SLS.

SLS is a division of Australia-based Sims Ltd. and a member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.