Ellesmere Port recycling innovator, BIG ATOM, is celebrating a major breakthrough in its attempt to revolutionise the tyre recycling process, after receiving a £350,000 grant from Innovate UK.
The Oil Sites Road based clean-tech recycling company, which already boasts the North West’s second largest tyre recycling plant, has been given the cash injection to develop its patented chemical reactor technology, which will convert old waste tyres into new materials.
Company founder, Alexander Guslisty, said that the grant would enable the business to develop the concept of a novel pyrolysis reactor with improved temperature control and efficiencies to create an even more sustainable regeneration process for polymers.
Alex said: “We already recycle tyres and have just processed our one millionth, but this Innovate UK grant will accelerate our tech development and bring us closer to create circular economy for polymers – thus ending the concept of polymer waste.”
“It is a huge breakthrough and will open up new opportunities that will accelerate our IP and pathway to commercialisation. What’s more, the process will be good for the environment and support our ultimate goal of bringing an end to waste materials.”
BIG ATOM will continue to shred and granulate tyres providing the feedstock to the pyrolysis reactor to convert them into oil, gas, and recovered carbon black that can be used again and again.
Alex added: “We will be able to generate higher yields of valuable products compared to existing reactors and ultimately, we’ll be able to produce a more stable and desirable product for refineries to use as their feed.”
“There continues to be a problem with waste travelling thousands of miles on ships which we don’t have control over. This grant puts us a step closer to solving this problem through our closed loop recycling process,” he added.
Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, drives productivity and economic growth by supporting businesses to develop and realise the potential of new ideas. The organisation connects businesses to the partners, customers and investors that can help them turn ideas into commercially successful products and services and business growth.
For more information about BIG ATOM, visit https://www.bigatom.co/
