Date published: 01.09.08 - not release date

Environment Agency blocking introduction of new green fuel

COMPANY IN LEGAL BATTLE - COURTS STOP EA ACTION AGAINST FUEL USERS

A new fuel oil, made from used oils, has been created by British company The OSS Group.

Called CFO, it is a lower cost and environmentally acceptable alternative to fossil fuels and will help British industry dispose of the 400,000 tonnes of waste oil it collects each year.

Produced at a Worcestershire refinery to exactly the same specification as virgin fuel oil, it performs the same if not better but costs less, produces less emissions and helps conserve fossil fuels. It also provides a recycling route for used engine oil.

However, according to company MD, Andy McNair, OSS is having a battle with the Environment Agency to get the product to market.

The Waste Incineration Directive (WID), implemented last December, imposes very strict emission limits on burning fuels classed as waste. Until then, OSS, and other companies, had been producing a basic recycled fuel oil (RFO). This now cannot be used by most industries as it falls into the waste catagory and its users would need to comply with the WID limits.

“Three years ago we started the research for an alternative product. We put £3million into creating a fuel that would satisfy the new legislation. We provided the EA with extensive data, asked for technical discussion and guidance but got nothing back.

“We went ahead with the product. Ten days before the new laws came in we were informed by the EA that our CFO would be classed as a waste and therefore unable to be used by most industries. It hadn’t even sampled our new fuel.”

In March OSS went to court in the 1st stage of a judicial review process to get the courts to reverse the EA decision. Here the High Court issued an order against the EA, allowing OSS to produce and sell CFO and for industry to use it.

The EA appealed but on June 29th lost its appeal on all counts.

The case will be fully debated at the judicial review, scheduled for November this year, when OSS hope to have confirmation that its CFO is classed as a product not a waste and therefore acceptable as a fuel oil. Until then OSS can legally produce and sell it. Also the EA cannot prevent or take action against companies using CFO as a fuel.

“We find the whole situation difficult to understand.” Says McNair. “The UK desperately needs a safe way of disposing of its waste oil. DEFRA has stated that products derived from waste oil, processed in a refinery and indistinguishable from the virgin equivalent, may not be a waste. This is exactly what we do to get CFO. This product will play a part in protecting the environment so it seems strange that the EA is trying to block it”

Sales of the product have now started, mainly to the quarry industry’s roadstone coating plants but also to other industries as diverse as dairies, poultry farms, food processors, glass producers and metal processors.


A more detailed briefing/background document is available. For a copy of this or for further information contact John Dresser on:

07831 196404 or 020 8543 2299 or jdresser@ossgroupltd.com or Niall Dologhan on: 07740 733303 or 020 8543 2299.