Circtec receives funding for tire recycling facility

Circtec, a London-based company planning to deploy a pyrolysis-based tire recycling method, has received funding to help construct a facility in Delfzijl, Netherlands.

When completed, Circtec says the Dutch plant will be Europe’s largest end-of-life tire pyrolysis recycling facility with a capacity to convert approximately 5 percent of the 3.6 million tons of end-of-life tires generated each year in Europe, or about 180,000 tons.

The new financing round was led by Novo Holdings and A.P. Moller Holding, both based in Denmark. The total funding package of 150 million euros ($162 million) includes more than 22 million euros ($23.8 million) in grants awarded by the government of the Netherlands.

“The success of this new investment round gives us the partners that will enable us to take Circtec to the next level in realizing our goal of scaling sustainability,” Circtec co-founder and CEO Allen Timpany says.

The company's pyrolysis process produces sustainable marine fuel, circular naphtha for responsibly sourced plastics, polymers and chemicals and high-quality recovered carbon black for use back into tires, rubber and plastics manufacturing.

“The funding raised enables Circtec to start realization of the new plant in Delfzijl, which will bring a solution that produces circular chemical products from tire waste,” says Hilde van der Meer, commissioner of the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency. “I am happy that the Dutch government and Groningen province were able to support Circtec in bringing this new solution to fruition.”

Circtec previously announced offtake agreements with BP for its marine fuel and naphtha products and with India-based Birla Carbon for the recovered carbon black. “This means the entire output of the new plant being constructed at Delfzijl is fully sold,” the company says.

“The overall green transition of our societies will require trillions of dollars to be invested in the coming years and decades," says Chetan Mehta, of A.P. Moller Holding, which owns global shipping line Maersk. "We believe Circtec satisfies both our purpose and return requirements, and we are excited to be investing in the business and partnering with the management team to build a world-class pyrolysis platform.”