Commodity Trader Vitol to Buy Recycled Tyre Bunker Fuel

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Friday November 13, 2020

Global commodity trader Vitol will soon be buying bunker fuel made from recycled tyres from a producer in the UK.

The company has signed a ten-year deal with Norway's Wastefront AS to buy liquid hydrocarbons including bunker fuel from its plant in Sunderland, Vitol said in a statement on its website Friday.

Vitol will buy up to 30,000 mt/year of products including naphtha, distillates and bunker fuel from the plant.

"The estimated 29 million metric tonnes of vehicle tyres which reach the end of their lifespan each year represent an underreported but major cause of pollution due to their non-biodegradability," Vitol said in the statement.

"By converting tyre waste into usable commodities, Wastefront offsets carbon emissions, with the alternative to recycled commodities being crude oil.

"Wastefront’s plant will be the first to combine conventional methods with the company’s own proprietary process, which will minimise the environmental impact typically associated with traditional tyre pyrolysis."