Low Sulphur Fuels named winner of second Continental Challenge

HANOVER, Germany—Low Sulphur Fuels, of Amersham in the U.K., has been named the winner of Continental A.G.'s second sustainability competition, the Continental Challenge, for polymer recycling solutions.

Low Sulphur Fuels was crowned winner over more than 50 other competitors after demonstrating a unique process for recycling pre-sorted plastics, as well as manufactured rubber goods and scrap tires.

The challenge is conducted and overseen by Conti in partnership with the Innovation Network for Advanced Materials.

"With our challenges, we set out to find sustainable material solutions to be used on an industrial scale," said Jury President Jens Hogermeier, head of advanced technology development at ContiTech. "The innovators at Low Sulphur Fuels have developed a convincing process that has the potential to solve a number of the unanswered questions of plastics and rubber recycling."

Continental said it will work with LSF "to explore upscaling options for industrial use."

According to a Dec. 13 press release form Conti, LSF's method is the "fast electrochemical process," a "closed-loop oxidation process."

The feedstock—whether scrap tires, pre-sorted plastics or rubber products—is heated to a gas.

The material is paired with a proprietary electrolyte and the resulting low sulphur distillate, naphta and carbon black then can be used as raw materials for the chemical, automotive and other industries.

"We are very happy that we successfully demonstrated FEP's potential to the Continental material experts and we are looking forward to further collaborating on sustainable recycling solutions," Glenn Halliday, co-founder and COO of LSF.

This Continental Challenge marked the second for the German company. The field was whittled from 50 competitors, to 13, and then to four.

The final four then presented their ideas to a panel of 30 experts, led by Hogermeier, Daniel Biensfeld (head of innovation field sustainable materials) and Steffen Wietzke (head of innovation field thermoplastics).

"We were very excited to see so many interesting entries from all across the world," said Oliver Hasse, managing director of INAM, about the second cooperation with Continental. "We are convinced that, by enabling innovators in their efforts to make their advanced and innovative products market-ready, they can provide breakthrough solutions to the sustainability challenges of our times."

As Conti looks toward a sustainable future, the program, not surprisingly, focuses on end-of-life recycling of products.

"That is why, in our view, LSF's recycling process has the most holistic potential to be used in an industrial setting," Wietzke said.