Tyre-recycling technology saves valuable resources

Scandinavian Enviro Systems scales up its circular economy solution and initialises a joint venture with Michelin in Chile with the help of Nopef financing.

The Swedish company Scandinavian Enviro Systems (Enviro)‘s patented technology will soon be used in a tyre recycling plant in Chile, co-owned by Michelin and Enviro through a local joint venture. The patented pyrolysis technology makes tyre recycling more efficient and helps recover valuable resources from waste tyres, such as carbon black, oil, steel and gas.

The establishment of a plant in South America started with a conditional loan from Nopef for a feasibility study. In 2014, Enviro was granted Nopef funding to facilitate its plan to establish a recycling plant for end-of-life tyres in Chile. In 2021, as a result of the tangible measures Enviro had taken to establish the recycling plant, the loan was converted into a grant with no repayment requirement.

“Converting the loan into a grant is clearly financially beneficial but, most importantly, it provides further tangible evidence of how we are gradually executing and realising our commercialisation and expansion,” says Thomas Sörensson, CEO, Enviro.

The tyre recycling plant in Chile will have an annual recycling capacity of 25,000-30,000 tonnes. Photo: Scandinavian Enviro Systems

Nordic circular economy solution limits the need for fossil exploitation

Michelin’s strategy for the future is based mainly on recycled and sustainable materials, and the company aims to make its tyres 100% sustainable by 2050. One step in the process of achieving this is recovering carbon black from used tyres using Enviro’s ground-breaking technology.

Enviro’s patented pyrolysis technology makes tyre recycling more efficient and enables the recovery of valuable resources, limiting the need for fossil exploitation.

The tyre recycling plant in Chile will have an annual recycling capacity of 25,000-30,000 tonnes, which corresponds to about 60% of the mining tyres, so-called earthmover tyres, that Chile scraps each year.

“According to Enviro’s expansion plan, we could potentially establish about 30 plants globally by 2030, so there is great potential for achieving a major positive environmental impact with the help of our technology,”

Thomas Sörensson, CEO of Enviro

Financial support for global growth

Nopef (the Nordic Project Fund) provides financing for feasibility studies aimed at demonstration, scaling up and growth of Nordic green and sustainable solutions on global markets. Nopef is funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers and managed by Nefco.

“Enviro’s joint venture in Chile is a great example of how Nopef is supporting the internationalisation of Nordic green companies and thereby contributing to the Nordic Vision of making the Nordics the most sustainable region in the world,” says Mikael Reims, Vice President, Origination, Nefco.

Learn more about Nopef’s financing options and apply for financing at Nopef.com.

Case summany

Customer Scandinavian Enviro Systems AB (Enviro)
Time of project 2014-2021
Sector Circular economy, Industry
Segment Private
Geographical area Chile
Total investment EUR 32,000
Type of financing Grant financing
Financed by Nopef
SDG targets
SDG 12 Responsible consumption and production

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