While Suez will deliver 20,000 metric tons of used cooking oil a year, Total will process it into biofuel at its La Mède biorefinery in Châteauneuf-les-Martigues.

The La Mède biorefinery will convert used cooking oil, residual oil and vegetable oil into biodiesel through a refining process.

Total Refining & Base Chemicals Europe senior vice president Michel Charton said: “This industrial cooperation will allow us to establish a sustainable country-wide industry to recycle used cooking oil to produce biofuels.

“The partnership helps Total meet its ambition of being the responsible energy major. Renewable energies, especially biomass, are a critical adjunct to oil and gas in order to meet demand for transportation fuel while managing carbon emissions.”

Biodiesel produced at the refinery can be blended into normal diesel in any amounts and will not impact the efficiency of fuel quality or engines, said Total.

Total said that it will expand its La Mède biorefinery to make it one of the largest in the continent to meet the growing demand for biofuel.

SUEZ senior executive VP, in charge of Recycling & Recovery Europe, Jean-Marc Boursier said: “By helping to transform the La Mède industrial site, SUEZ is supporting TOTAL’s ambitious environmental goals — which we share.

“As a partner of leading manufacturers in Europe and worldwide, we develop tailored solutions to make industrial ecology a reality by optimizing the use of resources. Our collaboration with TOTAL to process used cooking oil into biofuel is a successful illustration of the circular economy.”

Suez and Total are looking to increase used oil collection by over 20% in France and will implement a short energy production loop to improve is conversion.

Currently, the annual collection of used cooking oil stands at 45,000 metric tons in France, while the estimated total is more than 100,000 metric tons.

A nation-wide oil collection and recycling process will be deployed by Suez that will be compatible for different types of producers including consumers and agrifood companies.

The collected used oil will be sent to La Mede biorefinery for preliminary treatment carried out in a new filtration unit that will be installed by Suez. The new unit is said to give scope for 50 job opportunities locally.

Image: Biofuel picture from La Jolla. La Jolla is biotech mecca…. Photo courtesy of Steve Jurvetson/Wikimedia Commons.