Oslo-headquartered Wastefront has started construction of a £100 million tyre-to-fuel facility in the North East of England.
The firm held a groundbreaking ceremony last week for the project at the Port of Sunderland.
Wastefront said the plant would process 10 million end-of-life tyres annually into oil suitable for refining into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
The facility’s first commercial phase will start at the end of 2026, with the second phase launching a year later.
Wastefront chief executive Vianney Valès said: “Our circular process not only prevents millions of tyres from being discarded in landfills but also provides a scalable, cost-effective pathway for SAF production.
“This process will also reduce lifecycle emissions by more than 80 per cent compared to fossil fuels. The Sunderland facility is just the beginning – we aim to expand rapidly to meet the growing demand for sustainable fuels.”
MP for Sunderland Central Lewis Atkinson added: “The Port of Sunderland is rapidly becoming a hub for cutting-edge industry, and this project will create skilled jobs for local people while also securing our position at the forefront of the UK’s net-zero economy.”
International Airlines Group, which has a target of using SAF for a tenth of its requirements by 2030, earlier this year invested in Wastefront.
