Sunderland aviation fuel plant gets IAG investment

International Airlines Group (IAG) has invested in Wastefront, the tyre-to-fuel company that plans to turn used tyres into Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).

The airline group’s investment will help fast-track the construction of Wastefront’s first commercial plant in the Port of Sunderland.

Wastefront is investing over £100 million in the Sunderland plant, which is set to become the UK’s largest tyre-to-fuel facility, delivering a significant economic boost to the North-East with the potential for more than 100 local jobs created.

Once fully operational the plant will turn up to 10 million used tyres into SAF every year.

The SAF will be made by converting waste tyres into tyre derived oil, which is then refined into road fuels and SAF. The SAF produced is expected to give life cycle carbon emission savings of over 80% versus fossil fuels.

IAG is one of the world’s largest airline groups with 582 aircraft. Its leading airlines in Spain, the UK and Ireland include Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, Vueling and LEVEL. The group also owns IAG Cargo and IAG Loyalty.

“The plant will begin operations in 2026 and once fully operational the following year, will process up to 10 million waste tyres annually,” said IAG.

“The UK currently generates around 50 million end-of-life tyres each year, with most of them currently exported to countries such as India where they are incinerated in cement plants or disposed of in landfills.

“Facilities like Wastefront’s planned Sunderland plant are critical to meeting the UK’s SAF mandate, which came into effect on 1 January 2025, requiring at least 10% of all jet fuel used in flights departing the UK to come from sustainable feedstocks by 2030, rising to 22% by 2040.

“Achieving the UK’s 2030 SAF target will require producing 1.2 million tonnes of SAF annually for the aviation industry – almost 20 times the UK’s estimated production of 64,000 tonnes in 2023, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).”

Jonathon Counsell, IAG’s Group Sustainability Officer, said: “We’re proud to support innovators like Wastefront, who are finding new forms of feedstocks to produce advanced fuels. However, as global demand for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) grows, it’s crucial to expand production in the UK.

“The recent Government mandate will help reduce aviation’s overall carbon impact, but airlines need confidence that the planned revenue certainty mechanism will support UK businesses in developing SAF technology without further increasing the cost base for UK airlines.”

Wastefront CEO Vianney Valès said: “At Wastefront, our mission is to turn a problematic waste stream into a highly valuable resource.

“We can create SAF at an extremely competitive cost with a very low environmental footprint – capable of reducing carbon emissions in the production process by up to 80% compared to traditional jet fuels. This investment is a testament to the potential of Wastefront’s technology in tackling waste and air pollution.”