Pyrolysis oil from waste tyres has mostly been sold as a cheap industrial fuel. A new market is forming above it: sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The route is real, the first plants are being built, and the questions to ask of a project are specific.
Why aviation
Airlines have few ways to cut emissions besides changing the fuel. The UK's SAF Mandate, which applies from 2025, requires SAF to make up 2 per cent of jet fuel in 2025, rising to 10 per cent in 2030 and 22 per cent in 2040. The EU's ReFuelEU Aviation rules set a similar path. UK production is far short: reports put the 2030 requirement at about 1.2 million tonnes a year.
Eligible SAF must come from sustainable wastes and residues — including fossil wastes that cannot be avoided, reused or recycled — and cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 per cent against fossil jet fuel. The mandate also caps the share that can come from HEFA fuels made from oils and fats: 71 per cent in 2030 and 35 per cent in 2040. That cap is what makes other routes, including waste-derived ones, worth developing.
The route from tyre to jet fuel
- Pyrolysis heats shredded tyres without oxygen, giving tyre-derived oil, recovered carbon black, steel and gas.
- Upgrading removes sulphur and other contaminants from the oil.
- Refining turns it into jet fuel — either by co-processing at an existing refinery or in a dedicated unit.
The first projects
In March 2025, Wastefront began building a £100 million tyre-to-fuel plant at the Port of Sunderland, backed by IAG, the owner of British Airways. The company says the plant will process 10 million tyres a year when complete, with the first phase starting at the end of 2026. It aims for four plants by 2030, producing about 128,000 tonnes of oil and about 90,000 tonnes of SAF a year, and says lifecycle emissions will be more than 80 per cent below fossil fuel. These are the company's projections.
Questions to ask of a project
- Does the fuel count? Tyres are a fossil-derived waste. Whether a tyre-derived fuel qualifies under the UK mandate is decided through the Department for Transport's eligibility process for recycled carbon fuels. Ask whether the project has been through it.
- Is the feedstock secure? Long-term tyre supply contracts, at a known gate fee or price.
- Does the oil meet specification? Sulphur and contaminants decide how much refining it needs.
- Who refines it, and who buys it? Co-processing capacity and an airline or fuel supplier offtake.
- What else does the plant sell? Recovered carbon black and steel often decide whether the numbers work.
- Are the emissions claims independently assessed?
Tyre-derived SAF is not yet an established market at scale. It is a market with a mandate behind it, a feedstock that already exists, and the first plants under construction. That is when the careful questions are worth asking.
This article is general information, not advice on any investment.
Related: Clean energy finance and clean technology investment.