Commercial scale municipal waste to renewable methanol plant in the Middle East announced during COP27

Commercial scale municipal waste to renewable methanol plant in the Middle East announced during COP27

COP27 (Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt) – Averda, the leading end-to-end waste management, treatment and recycling company in emerging markets, and WasteFuel, a developer of bio-refineries focused on converting Municipal Solid Waste into low-carbon fuels, announced today during the COP27 Climate Conference, their partnership to develop the first commercial scale municipal waste to renewable methanol plant in the Middle East.

The location for the first plant is being researched, and it is expected to be in Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates. The plant will produce renewable methanol for shipping from unrecyclable waste currently being collected and disposed of by Averda. This renewable fuel would help shipping companies achieve up to 90% reductions in CO2 emissions and other greenhouse gases and pollutants compared to conventional fuels.

The world generates 2.01 billion tons of municipal solid waste annually and global waste is expected to grow to 3.40 billion tons by 2050, more than double population growth over the same period.1 Turning waste into renewable fuels is possible.

Renewable methanol for shipping is crucial in global efforts to decarbonize.

Large container ships now account for approximately 20% of all marine fuel demand and researchers warn that without greater efforts to decarbonize shipping could account for up to 10% of