Lootah Biofuels to collect UCO from UAE households

Market: Biofuels, Oil products
28/01/25

Dubai-based biofuels producer Lootah Biofuels will launch a smart app in coming months to facilitate the collection of used cooking oil (UCO) from households and businesses in the UAE.

Lootah plans to increase and simplify the collection of UCO, which currently stands at 300,000 litres/month.

The company wants to encourage "individuals and families to actively participate in collecting and safely disposing used cooking oil at designated collection points."

Lootah Biofuels aims for the recycling of UCO to reach 80pc in the coming years, up from less than 50pc currently — largely sourced from restaurants and the hospitality sector.

Lootah Biofuels' plant is the largest in the Middle East, producing 53,000 t/yr of biodiesel, which it supplies to the local transportation and aviation market and exports to the Netherlands, the UK, Germany and India.

Lootah Biofuels signed an agreement with Malaysian biofuel feedstock supplier FatHopes Energy in 2023 to collaborate on supplying sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to Dubai's aviation sector and establishing a Malaysian used cooking oil (UCO) aggregation hub.

Bunker hopes

Bunker market participants in Fujairah, UAE, the world's third largest marine fuels centre, hope the potential production increase will boost availability of B24 — which consists of 24pc used cooking oil methyl ester (Ucome) and 76pc very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO).

The Fujairah bunker market has been facing competition with other industry sectors over limited supplies.

Bunkering B24 has been slow in Fujairah, with sporadic demand emerging.

"There is just one customer who periodically asks for B24, which is not always available," a Fujairah trader said.

Still, bunker sellers expect regional demand for B24 to rise later this year as shipowners prepare to meet more stringent mandates set by the EU and the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).

FuelEU Maritime aims to raise the share of renewable and low-carbon fuels in the fuel mix of maritime transport within the EU, and will set requirements for greenhouse gas emission reductions against a 2020 baseline level, starting with 2pc in 2025.

The EU is an important market and a regular destination for much of the maritime traffic passing through Fujairah, so the new regulations are likely to be a trigger for change, market participants said. "Many vessels refuel in Fujairah before calling at EU ports," one trader says. "They already have to comply with the EU ETS, [Carbon Intensity Index], and will need to also comply with FuelEU."

By Elshan Aliyev

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