Desk Notes

Used Cooking Oil volume is a logistics question before it is a chemistry question. Collectors compete on route density: the more restaurants per kilometre, the lower the cost per litre. In thin markets, collection points thin out and volumes flatten regardless of demand.

For buyers, the practical variable is verifiable origin. Schemes and mass-balance documentation increasingly decide which UCO qualifies for advanced-fuel pools, and documentation quality is now screened earlier in the matching conversation.

Our desk reads three things weekly: restaurant-net density by region, collector margin signals, and certification acceptance rules in destination markets.

ReFuelEU Aviation sets a scheduled ramp for sustainable aviation fuel at EU airports, and the UK SAF Mandate follows a comparable path. Both frameworks accept neat and blended options subject to specification and certification confirmation.

For offtakers, the desk's focus is eligibility: which production pathways, certifications and documentation will be accepted at which airport, and how blending logistics change the delivered spec.

We treat mandate volumes as demand signals, not as prices. Where mandate-driven demand meets limited certified supply, matching — not forecasting — is the value.

Renewable diesel and HVO projects convert feedstock flexibility into margin. Operators that can switch between UCO, distilled fatty acids and agri residues keep utilisation high when any single stream tightens.

Co-processing in conventional units adds a further outlet, with specification and sustainability documentation differing by site. Two shipments of the same feedstock are not interchangeable.

Our desk tracks announced capacity against actual feedstock flows, and treats spec documentation as part of the product.

At the mill, POME management is an environmental and energy question: treatment, biogas capture, and compliance. It is not a cross-border commodity in its liquid form.

What trades is oil recovered or derived from that stream — a feedstock for biodiesel and HVO producers, with its own quality windows and collection economics.

We keep these as separate product conversations: environmental projects on one side, feedstock supply on the other. Mixing them slows every deal down.