Energy company Viva Energy and Cleanaway Waste Management have signed an agreement to produce renewable diesel from used cooking oil (UCO) in Australia.
The memorandum of understanding (MoU) would involve large quantities of domestic UCO being delivered to Viva Energy’s Geelong refinery to produce advanced fuels like renewable diesel and products such as bio-circular polymer, Viva Energy Australia said on 15 October.
The aim of the agreement was to establish an ongoing supply of UCO from Cleanaway’s Laverton UCO treatment facility, Viva Energy said.
Viva Energy said it had been running a pilot programme at its Geelong refinery, in Victoria, to process UCO sourced from Cleanaway’s facilities in commercial quantities – alongside crude oil – into high-value products.
UCO used in the trials was purified by Cleanaway into a ready-to-use feedstock for the refinery.
Scaling up local supply and using it in the refinery would be close the loop between waste generation, resource recovery and re-use, Viva Energy said.
Viva Energy is a leading convenience retailer, commercial services and energy infrastructure business.
The group operates a convenience and fuel network of about 900 stores across Australia and supplies fuels and lubricants to a total network of around 1,500 service stations.
As well as owning and operating the Geelong refinery, the company operates bulk fuels, aviation, bitumen, marine, chemicals, polymers and lubricants businesses and has more than 20 terminals and about 80 airports and airfields across the country.
Cleanaway Waste Management Limited is one of Australia’s leading sustainable waste management, industrial and environmental services companies.
The company operates in more than 350 locations in Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East, has a fleet of more than 6,400 vehicles, and is supported by a network of recycling facilities, transfer stations, engineered landfills, liquid treatment plants and refineries.
