The companies have formed an alliance to mutually obtain contracts to operate waste-to-ethanol facilities. The deal includes an $84 million waste-to-ethanol plant that Future Fuels plans to build in Toms River, N.J. The facility will use a 100-ton-per-day Startech Plasma Converter System to process scrap tires into a gas product that will be converted into fuel-grade ethanol.

Future Fuels is a subsidiary of Washington-based Nuclear Solutions Inc. and is developing technology to convert carbonaceous waste, such as tires and wood and coal waste, into renewable fuel.

Startech Environmental, based in Wilton, Conn., is engaged in the production and sale of plasma processing equipment, which destroys municipal and hazardous waste and turns it into useful byproducts.