The UCO management is negatively influenced by the lack of stringent regulations requiring its proper disposal through a collection infrastructure which is still non-existent in most EU-27 Member States. There’s a real need to frame consistent rules focused on UCO collection, treatment and recycling. A UCO dedicated regulation should define responsibilities and obligations for waste producers as well as for all the other figures involved. At the same time, the legal framework should avoid any ambiguity and harmonize the EU context in order to create the proper conditions for marketing the UCO as an international commodity to be traded on global scale.
Until such market conditions aren’t effective, UCO collection from households could not always be a profitable business, due to transport costs with small amounts per collection. Incentives for local collection projects would be needed to meet ever demanding recycling targets, keeping a long term view.
The categorization of UCO as feedstock for conventional biofuels as well as dedicated targets for truly advanced biofuels could push and accelerate this process. On the other side, fraudulent activity of feedstock categorization should be carefully controlled and eliminated. For this reason, certification and traceability are crucial topics. The certification field needs to converge towards a widely shared approach, thus keeping the respect of sustainability as a priority. International traceability systems, aimed to demonstrate the origin of feedstock accountable for double counting purposes, should be in place. Following this strategy, the double counting system could be implemented in a larger number of countries throughout Europe.
The uncertain EU policy line does not encourage national policy makers to increase their incentives for biofuel development. In parallel, the lack of rules or targets for vehicles that can be run on higher biofuel blends is a barrier for the uptake of the biodiesel sector. In order to encourage vehicles producers and citizens to move towards a green fuelled Europe, EU authorities should make suitable incentives available, taking into account the biodiesel CO2 reduction power. Among the analyzed cases, the Danish policy regarding CO2 tax exemption for biofuels seems to be the most appropriate one.
Clearer guidelines should be designed to support the biodiesel market, considering the whole European market balance. Starting from this consideration, national protectionist measures are not recommended. The pathway we foresee is funded on cooperation and awareness of global interests, valorised by European authorities.
EU biofuels can have a bright future ahead. Their development rate will be significantly influenced by political decisions-making.
Lear more about UCO and biodiesel legal framework and market perspectives:
Comparative analysis of the different legal frameworks.
Analysis of qualitative aspects.
Check biofuel legislation (click on the flag):
Source: EUBIA
