Paris-listed company Ecoslops has produced its first ISO8217-compliant ship fuel from marine fuel residues or ‘slops’ at its refinery in the Port of Sinès, Portugal.

The company combined 3,200 tonnes of residues imported during Q3, with those collected at Sinès and those provided by container line MSC, and refined 98% of them into marine diesel oil and heavy fuel oil, as well as light bitumen for non-shipping markets.

“This is a landmark moment for Ecoslops, as we prove the commercial and sustainable viability of creating marine fuel products from slops,” said Vincent Favier, ceo. “In the current climate, waste collectors are finding it increasingly difficult to sell unprocessed slops and many ports do not have sufficient collection or storage infrastructure.

“For ship owners and operators, it is highly cost-effective, efficient and sustainable to be able to take a waste product, for which the disposal is strictly regulated, and turn it into a reusable marine fuel. Our focus now is on accelerating production at the Port of Sinès by collecting more slops locally and through import, as well as further developing our global infrastructure to capitalise on the opportunities within the global slops market.”

The company is currently developing facilities on the Ivory Coast, and plans to bring three more facilities online throughout the Mediterranean and Northern Europe by 2017.