Chivas funding for Polish tire pyrolysis start-up

Amsterdam – Polish tire-pyrolysis startup Syntoil has received $250,000 (€222,000) in funding from Chivas Venture, a global competition for social entrepreneurs with positive impact on the world.

Launched in 2014 by Scotch whisky company Chivas, the $1-million annual fund is intended to promote entrepreneurship in the field of sustainability.

As a finalist, Syntoil was recognised for “solving the environmental problem of rubber waste from used tires” during a ceremony held in Amsterdam 9 May.

Co-founded by Polish entrepreneur Martyna Sztaba, Syntoil offers a patented “continuous” pyrolysis process for tire recycling.

The method, it claims, has advantages over “traditional” batch pyrolysis in terms of technology, business model and sustainability.

“The quality of soot [in conventional processes] is lower… so mostly they are selling it to cement plants to burn it or treat it as a waste,” Syntoil said in a written statement to ERJ.

The company’s continuous pyrolysis involves using rubber granules from end-of-life tires, as opposed to a whole tire used by other pyrolysis companies.

Using rubber granulate, steel parts are removed from tires prior to processing in reactors and recovered as non-contaminated metal, Syntoil pointed out.

The start-up also claims that its technology is emissions-free, particularly as it does not require opening of reactors during the process.

Conventional reactors are opened to take out the steel and other parts, leading to emissions from the reactor, according to Syntoil.