Work starts on Europe’s largest SAF facility

Oslo-headquartered Wastefront said its new SAF production facility, the largest facility of its kind in Europe, will create over 100 jobs and deliver ‘a major economic boost to the North East’.

The facility’s first commercial phase will start at the end of 2026, with the second phase launching in 2027.

Once fully operational, the plant will process 10 million end-of-life tyres annually, converting them into tyre-derived oil for refining into SAF and other sustainable fuels.

The UK’s first fully circular tyre-to-fuel plant will utilise pyrolysis to convert end-of-life tyres into tyre-derived oil, which will be refined into SAF. Wastefront said its system recycles the gases generated during pyrolysis to power its operations.

By 2030, Wastefront aims to operate four large-scale plants, collectively producing 128,000 tonnes of oil annually, which Wastefront said is enough to yield approximately 90,000 tonnes of SAF.

The UK’s SAF mandate requires at least 10 per cent of all jet fuel used in UK flights to come from sustainable feedstocks by 2030, rising to 22 per cent by 2040. However, domestic SAF production remains short of the target of 1.2 million tonnes needed by 2030.

Wastefront CEO Vianney Valès said the project focusses on two key issues, namely tyre waste and aviation emissions.

“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,” he said. “This process will also reduce lifecycle emissions by more than 80 per cent compared to fossil fuels. The Sunderland facility is just the beginning – we aim to expand rapidly to meet the growing demand for sustainable fuels.”

International Airlines Group (IAG) was the first European airline group to aim for 10 per cent SAF usage by 2030 and in January this year, the company announced an investment in Wastefront.

Commenting, Jack Duckworth, a partner at L.E.K. Consulting, said: “A great degree of collaboration across the aviation value chain will be required if we are to see SAF adoption growing in line to meet targets – across airlines, fuel producers, airports, and across the logistics chain.”

“To reach 70 percent SAF globally – in line with the target established under ReFuelEU - production must grow from c.1 million tonnes of capacity today to likely in excess of 400 million tonnes.  While there are plants announced, achieving this scale remains a significant challenge”