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Ecoslops, the first company to develop technology to produce recycled marine fuels from marine oil residues - also known as 'slops' - has announced that its refinery in the Port of Sinès, Portugal, has commenced industrial production and delivered the first volume of marine fuel products compliant with ISO8217, validating the company's commercial proposition.

Ecoslops has also made two senior appointments and developed its global infrastructure with the addition of new facilities in order to meet its ambitious growth objectives.

In the third quarter of 2015, 3,200 tonnes of slops were imported from northern Europe, in conjunction with slops collected in Sinès, mainly at the oil terminal and from leading container shipping firm Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC). 1,400 tonnes of fuel products have subsequently been produced for the marine market, comprising distillates and intermediate fuel oil (IFO); and light bitumen for the roofing and isolation markets.

In a statement, the company said: "This development validates the company's value proposition, with 98 percent of slops being recycled for commercial use."

Vincent Favier, CEO, Ecoslops, remarked: "This is a landmark moment for Ecoslops, as we prove the commercial and sustainable viability of creating marine fuel products from slops.

"In the current climate, waste collectors are finding it increasingly difficult to sell unprocessed slops and many ports do not have sufficient collection or storage infrastructure. For ship owners and operators, it is highly cost-effective, efficient and sustainable to be able to take a waste product, for which the disposal is strictly regulated, and turn it into a reusable marine fuel. Our focus now is on accelerating production at the Port of Sinès by collecting more slops locally and through import, as well as further developing our global infrastructure to capitalise on the opportunities within the global slops market."

As part of this development, Ecoslops has strengthened its senior team with the appointments of Pascal Bonfils as Group Industrial Director and Pedro Simões as General Manager of the company's Portuguese subsidiary in Sinès.

"Both have substantial experience of working in the energy, industrial and petrochemical markets and will play important roles in the ongoing development of the company," Ecoslops said.

In conjunction with this, Ecoslops says that it is continuing its work in developing its facilities in the Ivory Coast, as well as looking at other opportunities in the Mediterranean and the north of Europe. This follows the company's ambition to bring on line three more facilities by 2017.

The technology developed by Ecoslops recycles marine hydrocarbon waste. The company collects slops from waste collectors and ports, as well as directly from ship owners and operators. The hydrocarbons are then pre-treated by decantation and centrifugation before being processed into a vacuum distillation column and recycled into marine fuels and light bitumen. The water produced is decontaminated in a treatment plant before being returned to the natural environment.

Ecoslops' treatment unit in the Port of Sinès has the capacity to produce 30,000 tonnes of recycled fuel every year, the company says.