Waste tyres turned into jet fuel

By Finance News On Mar 4, 2025

A game-changing £100 million plant that turns waste tyres into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is now under construction at the Port of Sunderland.

Wastefront’s facility is the UK’s first large-scale tyre-to-fuel operation, tackling tyre waste while advancing the country’s SAF ambitions.

By 2026, the plant will start converting 10 million end-of-life tyres annually into tyre-derived oil, which will be refined into SAF.

With the UK generating 55 million waste tyres per year, the project offers a circular solution to a growing environmental challenge.

“Wastefront is delivering an innovative project to focus on two key issues: tyre waste and aviation emissions,” said CEO Vianney Valès. “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.”

SAF is essential to cutting aviation emissions and the UK’s new mandate requires at least 10% of jet fuel to come from sustainable sources by 2030.

However, domestic production is still far below the 1.2 million tonnes needed.

IAG’s (International Airlines Group) Sustainability Officer, Jonathon Counsell, stated: “To enable aviation to meet the UK’s new mandate and growing SAF demand, there needs to be even greater policy support so manufacturers and innovators like Wastefront can scale new technologies.”

With plans to expand globally, Wastefront aims to play a key role in the transition to cleaner fuels. It hopes its Sunderland facility is just the beginning.