Enviro explains delays to US, Danish projects

The facilities are to employ Enviro's patented technology for the thermal decomposition of tires in absence of oxygen, to recover carbon black, oil and steel materials.

Previously communicated deadlines for when agreements were to be completed has now passed, the Swedish scrap tire processor admitted in a statement issued 4 July.

However, this “will not affect the outcome of the negotiations or the possibility of opening the various plants,” based on Enviro technology, the Swedish company insisted.

For over a year, Enviro has been negotiating with the three companies concerning final contracts for preparing local plants for tire recycling based on its tire-recycling technology.

In the case of WindSpace, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in May 2018, with the intent to establish a joint venture to build a pyrolysis plant in Denmark within 18 months.

WindSpace has since signed a lease for an empty plot in Nyborg Harbour through Elysium A/S, a company established to operate the plant to be built there.

“The Danish company also submitted applications for both building and environmental permits," reported said Enviro CEO Thomas Sörensson.

“We still need to agree on the financing scheme and the details in the contract that will be prepared,” said Sörensson.

Enviro signed an MoU with EE-TDF Cleveland LLC last December towards establishing – through a JV – several plants for tire recycling in the US market. The first facility would be established at the company’s existing site in Texas.

According to the plans originally communicated, the parties were to sign a binding contract within three months and the first project was to begin in the second quarter of this year.

In the case of Treadcraft, an initial MoU with a deadline of six months was signed at the end of June last year. This agreement was then extended by another six months in December last year when the parties also decided to investigate the possibility of establishing a JV.

The collaboration with Treadcraft pertains to the establishment of a jointly owned recycling plant in Buffalo, New York, Enviro further pointed out.

According to Sörensson, the fact that no final agreements have been reached is not due to a lack of interest in establishing the plants.

“We have changed our strategy and business model,” the CEO said. “We now are investing in becoming part owners in new plants so as to capitalise on the revenue streams that these generate.

“This means that our contract negotiations are a little more complicated, but also that we need to settle a number of financial questions before we can establish a final contract.”

However, Sörensson did not give any new dates for when the company believes contracts will be ready.

Enviro must "carefully evaluate which projects provide the best long-term conditions for us and which we should therefore invest in,” he stated.