Fuel technology specialist SulNOx Group has entered into a partnership to help produce high quality fuels from reclaimed plastics and discarded tyres. The company will be working with LocoSoco Group on the scheme, which it explained will reduce the need to drill for fossil fuels.
The firm specialises in providing responsible solutions towards decarbonisation of liquid hydrocarbon fuels, while partner LocoSoco creates, sources and distributes products and technologies that contribute to sustainability.
The company said that approximately 7 billion of the estimated 9.2 billion tonnes of plastics produced between 1950 and 2017 are now waste, with 75% of that either deposited in landfills or accumulating in ecosystems on the land and in the sea. Earlier this year, 173 countries pledged to develop a legally binding treaty by 2024 to end plastic pollution. However, based on current trends, plastic production is expected to double within the next 20 years and by 2050 could account for 15% of the world’s annual carbon budget.
LocoSoco has already been working on waste conversion projects to convert tyres and plastic waste into high value oils and carbon black. SulNOx Group will now join these efforts in order to help to derive greater yields and produce high quality fuels that meet regulatory requirements, using its technology to deal with moisture content of oil created from recycled products whilst gaining lubricity and remaining stable.
Ben Richardson, CEO of the SulNOx Group, said: “The core technologies of SulNOx have diverse potential applications including converting waste, which is often problematic to the environment and ecosystems, into useful products. Over 350 million tonnes of plastic a year are produced globally which is due to triple by 2050 and billions of tyres are scrapped each year, which will still likely remain a problem even with the uptake of cleaner transportation.
“We are excited to play a part in the growing waste conversion sector and expand on the ability of SulNOx technologies to help solve global problems.”
LocoSoco CEO James Perry added: “The team at SulNOx shares our values and vision for sustainability. There is no quick fix to the problems industry and our planet face, however working together we are able to develop supply chains that begin to reduce the dependence on the global markets by utilising local waste as a new fuel source. Doing so reduces the environmental burden of drilling for fossil fuels until the market is able to adopt zero-emission fuel sources.”
The two companies have been working together since November 2021 with LocoSoco developing route to market strategies and promoting SulNOx Group’s biodegradable fuel and emulsification technologies across its multi-sector network of consumer and business customers.
