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Eesti Energia has entered into a long-term supply agreement with a Swedish tyre recycling organization, enabling the industrial recycling of waste tyres to be launched in this summer and thus contributing to reducing environmental problems in the region.

Eesti Energia is moving step by step from the production of liquid fuels towards a carbon-neutral chemical industry based on the circular economy. An important part of the concept is the recycling of hard-to-recycle waste from other sectors in Enefit pyrolysis plants.

The Swedish producer responsibility organisation, Swedish Tyre Recycling AB, will supply Enefit plants with 20,000 tons of tyre chips per year, which accounts for a quarter of the amount of waste tyres produced in Sweden. The plants also have the capacity to recycle all waste tyres produced in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, totalling nearly 55,000 tons annually.

According to Raine Pajo, Member of the Management Board of Eesti Energia, the recycling of waste tyres by pyrolysis creates less carbon dioxide than, for example, burning them to produce construction materials.

‘The recycling of waste tyres is an important step in Eesti Energia’s journey towards a carbon-neutral chemical industry based on the circular economy, as we are converting waste from other sectors into a useful product at the expense of oil shale,’ Pajo noted. ‘In the long run, we aim to find solutions on how to use our technology to recycle plastic waste and replace the production of liquid fuels with the production of raw materials for the chemical industry.’

The first shipload of waste tyres shredded in Sweden will arrive at Enefit Power this summer. According to Andres Färnlöf, project manager of the Swedish Tyre Recycling Association, the association shares the vision of Eesti Energia: ‘We are pleased to start supplying tyre chips to Eesti Energia so that waste tyres can be recycled by pyrolysis. Many of our views on sustainability issues overlap with those of Eesti Energia and we hope that this will lead to long-term and effective cooperation.’

Eesti Energia is already consulting with international chemical companies who have expressed interest in a chemical produced based on the principles of the circular economy.

Transitioning to a carbon-neutral chemical industry based on the circular economy makes it possible to retain well-paid jobs in Ida-Viru County and create conditions for the emergence of new industries and the growth of Estonian tax and export income.