Commercial scale municipal waste to renewable methanol plant in the Middle East announced during COP27
Press Release
7 November 2022
COP27 (Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt) – Averda, the leading end-to-end waste management, treatment and recycling company in emerging markets, and WasteFuel, a developer of bio-refineries focused on converting Municipal Solid Waste into low-carbon fuels, announced today during the COP27 Climate Conference, their partnership to develop the first commercial scale municipal waste to renewable methanol plant in the Middle East.
The location for the first plant is being researched, and it is expected to be in Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates. The plant will produce renewable methanol for shipping from unrecyclable waste currently being collected and disposed of by Averda. This renewable fuel would help shipping companies achieve up to 90% reductions in CO2 emissions and other greenhouse gases and pollutants compared to conventional fuels.
The world generates 2.01 billion tons of municipal solid waste annually and global waste is expected to grow to 3.40 billion tons by 2050, more than double population growth over the same period.1 Turning waste into renewable fuels is possible.
Renewable methanol for shipping is crucial in global efforts to decarbonize.
Large container ships now account for approximately 20% of all marine fuel demand and researchers warn that without greater efforts to decarbonize shipping could account for up to 10% of all global emissions by 2050.
Malek Sukkar, Chief Executive Officer of Averda, commented: “This partnership will help to address climate change by diverting waste from landfill to produce renewable fuels. Averda is proud to partner with WasteFuel, another member of SMI, to bring this innovative and sustainable solution to the region, and to continue our journey towards a world without waste.”
“Addressing the climate emergency requires an exponential increase in renewable fuel supply. The Middle East, specifically Jebel Ali, is considered a gateway between the Western Hemisphere and the Far East. As WasteFuel works to produce green methanol to decarbonize shipping at scale, the opportunity to develop a biorefinery in partnership with Averda in the Middle East was an exciting and logical next step,” said Trevor Neilson, Co-founder, Chairman and CEO, WasteFuel.
Collaboration is critical to address the waste and climate crisis. Averda and WasteFuel partnered after meeting through the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI), which was established by His Majesty King Charles III in 2020 when he was in role as His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. Averda and WasteFuel announced the partnership today at the SMI event held as part of COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
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About WasteFuel
WasteFuel uses proven technologies to address the climate emergency and revolutionize mobility. The company converts municipal and agricultural waste into low-carbon fuels including green methanol, renewable natural gas, and sustainable aviation fuel.
WasteFuel has several projects in development globally including a project in South America to produce green methanol, a project in the Philippines to produce sustainable aviation fuel and methanol, and projects to produce renewable natural gas and green methanol in the Americas and Asia.
WasteFuel investors include Maersk, Marc Benioff’s TIME Ventures, i(x) Net Zero, NetJets, Prime Infra, and Guy Oseary.
For more information visit: www.wastefuel.com.
A new Averda waste management facility for King Abdullah University of Science and Technology is designed to reach zero-waste operations by 2025, making the university the first zero-waste institution in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Better sourcing and deploying technology can ease some of that pressure.
Averda is planning to establish several recycling facilities in the region, including ones that will accept source-segregated plastics from the construction sector.