(Biofuels International) The collection of used cooking oil is crucial to the supply of biodiesel feedstock. Biofuels International spoke to Pol Van Pollaert, Commercial Director of Quatra, a market leader in the collection and recycling of used cooking oil.
…
Quatra is a Belgian company founded by the Van Pollaert family, that, in the past ten years, has grown rapidly to become the European market leader in the collection and recycling of used cooking oil as a biofuel feedstock.
In 2009 my father took over a small Belgian fat collection company. My brother Piet and I quickly saw many opportunities and over the years, more acquisitions followed in Belgium and France. After the purchase of the then Dutch market leader Rotie in 2019, Quatra became the biggest collector in Europe.
Today, Quatra employs more than 500 people and is known for its service and flexibility, with an extensive and fully owned logistics network and an innovative recycling process.
Quatra is involved in the collection of used cooking oil (UCO). How big is this operation and what countries do you operate in?
Quatra is active in eight countries – Belgium, France, the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and Luxembourg. We collect UCO and fats from fast-food chains (including McDonald’s, Burger King and KFC) and from industrial food producers such as McCain, Mora and Pringles. Great references, but most of our volume is collected at more than 100,000 snackbars, restaurants and catering businesses.
…
Our UCO suppliers benefit from our international network and local depots in all the countries where we operate in. But indeed, we are in a business that is quite labour intensive. We collect small quantities, in many places. Therefore we provide extensive training for our drivers and invest continuously in a strong and modern fleet. At the same time we look into future proof solutions to make the way we collect more efficient and sustainable.
…
Once the UCO is collected by local drivers we store the product in one of our many warehouses where we bulk up the volumes. Once these volumes reach more or less 25 metric tonnes, we collect the product and bring it to one of our factories for pretreatment.
When the upcycling of the UCO is completed, we bring the volumes directly to our customers by road tanker trucks or by ship. Of course, moving forward, new sustainable feedstocks need to be developed, found or recycled. The UCO market will not cover all the mandates.
Therefore, Quatra heavily invests in the sourcing and recycling of new feedstocks for biofuel production. We believe that the current high prices offer a great opportunity for new ideas and feedstocks to find its way into the biofuel pool. READ MORE