Service station chain Circle K avoids UK and Asian biofuel imports

Leading service station chain Circle K says it does not import biofuel from either the UK or Asia amid growing concerns about mislabelling and fraud.

The EU Commission is investigating whether Indonesian suppliers of biofuel made from waste cooking oil are mislabelling their product and selling it to the bloc via the UK to evade tax duties. At the same time there are growing fears in the industry that so-called reprocessed waste cooking oil from parts of China and other Asian countries may actually be palm oil.

Circle K, one of the Republic’s biggest service station chains, has confirmed it is aware of these issues and does not import its biofuels from either Asia or the UK. The company said this week that it plans spending €2 million on measures to increase supplies of reprocessed waste cooking oil – known as hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) – this year.

It maintains that all its HVO supplies are certified by International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC), one of the groups that raised the alarm about some Chinese and Asian supplies, or other independent organisations.

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“We have implemented a best-in-class procurement model and only work with reputable suppliers to ensure all HVO imported meets European standards for supply chain and carbon reduction verification,” said the group in response to questions.

The company is also on a working group set up late last year by the Department of Transport to weigh the Republic’s vulnerability to possible HVO fraud.

The Government heavily favours HVO use. The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation requires oil companies to ensure that 17 per cent of the motor fuel they sell is renewable. Using HVO cuts the obligation by about two-thirds, giving them an extra incentive to use that fuel instead, boosting its consumption here.

However, soaring increases in HVO production in some countries have prompted questions from certification bodies and others in the industry about its source. Some fear that Asian producers are using palm oil, whose production is blamed for rainforest destruction and which the EU does not class as sustainable fuel.

ISCC last year stopped certifying some HVO produced in China as it was unable to verify the fuel’s source.