Analysis of latest biofuels data shows worrying rise in dubious ‘used’ cooking oil imports as airlines increasingly promote biofuels as solution for cleaner flying.

Europe’s consumption of used cooking oil (UCO) more than doubled between 2015 and 2022, with most of it going in the continent’s cars and trucks in the form of biodiesel. But with local UCO supplies limited by both the capacity of local authorities to collect it and how much used cooking oil Europeans can produce, the continent now relies overwhelmingly on imports for its supply. This is set to grow as airlines push for more UCO as a key ingredient in SAF. AS an example, last month, Virgin Atlantic launched the ‘world’s first 100 per cent SAF transatlantic flight’.

With the global airline industry pushing for used cooking oil as a key ingredient in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), there is a need for greater transparency to avoid UCO becoming a backdoor for palm oil.

Barbara Smailagic, biofuels expert at T&E, said: “Europe is being flooded with dodgy used cooking oil. European governments say it’s almost impossible to stop virgin oils like palm being labelled as waste. We need greater transparency and a limit on imports to avoid UCO simply becoming a backdoor for deforestation-driving palm oil.”

China is by a long way the continent’s largest supplier of UCO accounting for 60 per cent of imports and 40 per cent of Europe’s total UCO supply. Spain and Italy are particularly reliant on Chinese UCO, while 96 per cent of Bulgaria’s UCO imports come from China.

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