EU has increased demand for waste oils amid the active use of biofuels in aviation fuel

In 2025, deliveries of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to EU airports increased 6-fold compared to the previous year, from 193 thousand tons to 1.1 million tons, and its share in the total volume of aviation fuel reached 2.8%, exceeding the mandatory ReFuelEU Aviation level of 2%, Bioenergytime reports.

Almost 80% of SAF was produced from used cooking oil (UCO). Therefore, as SAF usage increases, competition for UCO and other fatty feedstocks between jet fuel, biodiesel, and other biofuels will intensify.

Almost 86% of the SAF used was produced within the EU, but 85% of the raw materials needed for this were imported, including 61% from China, making the European SAF industry highly dependent on imports.

If in 2024 SAF was delivered to 33 airports in 27 EU countries, then in 2025 it will be delivered to 121 airports, and by 2030 the mandatory share of SAF should reach 6%, for which, according to EASA, there is sufficient capacity.

SkyNRG is currently building the DSL-01 plant in the Delfzijl Chemical Park in the Netherlands, which will produce about 100,000 tons of SAF per year from waste fats and oils and will be operational at full capacity in 2028.