Palm Oil Mill Effluent Oil (POME Oil) & Advanced Waste Lipids

ISCC-EU certified Annex IX Part A advanced feedstocks for HVO & ReFuelEU SAF with verified methane capture

Palm Oil Mill Effluent Oil (POME Oil, also known as Palm Sludge Oil / PSO, HS 3823.19.90 / 1522.00) and Category 1 & Category 2 Animal Tallows (Regulation EC 1069/2009) represent the highest-value advanced waste lipids in the global biofuel economy. Classified under Annex IX Part A of the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED II / RED III), POME Oil is legally recognized as an advanced biofuel feedstock. Unlike Annex IX Part B feedstocks (such as UCO, which are capped at 1.7% in road transport), Annex IX Part A materials enjoy completely uncapped double-counting toward national renewable transport targets and count directly toward the mandatory 5.5% advanced biofuel sub-target by 2030. Under RED III Article 27, when converted into Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) or maritime bio-bunkers, POME-derived fuels receive an additional 1.2x sectoral multiplier, delivering a net 2.4x compliance value.

In commercial aviation, the EU ReFuelEU Aviation Regulation (Regulation EU 2023/2405) imposes mandatory SAF blending starting at 2% in 2025, ramping to 6% in 2030 and 70% by 2050, while strictly barring all food and feed crop oils. Fuel suppliers facing shortfall penalties of at least twice the SAF-to-fossil jet price spread (over €2,400 to €4,000/MT) treat certified Annex IX Part A feedstocks as non-negotiable procurement assets. In the United States, under the IRA Section 45Z Clean Fuel Production Credit, POME oil's exceptionally low Carbon Intensity (CI = 10–18 kg CO₂e/MMBtu under CA-GREET 4.0) generates up to $1.26/gallon in production tax credits, delivering a +$0.63/gal advantage over virgin soybean oil.

POME Oil is the residual oily fraction harvested from the wastewater generated during the sterilization and pressing of Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB) at palm oil extraction mills (generating 2.5–3.0 m³ of effluent per MT of crude palm oil). It assays at Free Fatty Acids (FFA) of 40.0% to 65.0% (as palmitic acid) due to enzymatic hydrolysis in warm effluent lagoons, with Moisture and Insoluble Impurities (MIU) ≤ 3.0%, and a solidification titer of 38.0 °C to 45.0 °C. Crucially, to qualify under RED III and ReFuelEU, the producing palm oil mill must possess third-party certified closed methane capture infrastructure (geomembrane lagoon covers or anaerobic digester bioreactors) that flares or combusts the biogenic methane for power, preventing fugitive greenhouse gas emissions. Category 1 & 2 Animal Tallows similarly provide high-titer (40°C–48°C), low-IV (40–48) feedstocks derived from Specified Risk Materials (SRM) and fallen stock that are strictly prohibited from the feed and cosmetic food chains.

Logistics and quality control are rigorous: POME oil and tallow are solid at ambient temperatures in temperate ports, requiring continuous steam-coil heating at 50 °C to 55 °C during ocean transit, terminal storage, and transfer. Consignments are screened for chlorides (≤ 10–20 ppm max to prevent reactor stress corrosion), polyethylene (≤ 50 ppm max), phosphorus (≤ 25 ppm), and iron (≤ 20–30 ppm). CBIL brokers ISCC-EU certified POME oil and Category 1/2 tallow parcels from verified mills and rendering facilities in Indonesia (Sumatra/Kalimantan), Malaysia, Colombia, and Europe in 1,000 to 10,000 MT heated chemical tanker parcels (IMO Type 2/3 under MARPOL Annex II, worked via CBIL's LaycanDesk) and heated 20–22 MT containerized flexitanks on FOB, CFR, and CIF terms.

Excluded origins are not offered, including product re-exported, blended or re-processed through a third country. Every lot moves with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, mine or grower country, and nothing is quoted before the seller and loading point are known.