We broker used cooking oil between collectors and aggregators on one side and FAME, HVO and SAF producers on the other, across Europe and on import parcels. UCO sits in Annex IX Part B of the Renewable Energy Directive, and that is where the value comes from. Which means the certificate and the traceability behind it are part of the product, not paperwork attached to it. On what that is worth in practice: a cargo whose chain of custody will not survive an audit is worth a fraction of one that will, and the gap is far wider than most sellers expect.
- 1Collected from kitchens and caterers
- 2Heated until it melts and settles
- 3Water and solids drawn off
- 4Filtered and tested on FFA, MIU and sulphur
- 5Esterified into UCOME, or hydrotreated into HVO
Used cooking oil arrives as a solid or a sludge, not as an oil: it has to be heated before anything can be separated. Water, food solids and free fatty acids come out at that stage, and what is left is a feedstock. Only then does it become biodiesel, by esterification with methanol, or renewable diesel by hydrotreating. US Gulf material is commonly traded around 15 percent FFA and European material around 5 percent, so always ask which basis a price is on.
Reading a UCO offer: what 5/2/65/50 means
A UCO parcel is quoted in the trade as a string of four numbers, for example 5/2/65/50. Everyone in the market uses it and almost nobody writes down what it means, which is a problem the first time you receive an offer. It is, in order:
- FFA, free fatty acid, as a maximum percentage.
- M&I, moisture and impurities, as a maximum percentage.
- IV, iodine value, normally as a MINIMUM.
- Sulphur, as a maximum in parts per million.
So 5/2/65/50 is FFA 5 % max, moisture and impurities 2 % max, iodine value 65 minimum, sulphur 50 ppm max. A dash means no limit was agreed on that line: 10/2/-/50 is the same parcel with a looser FFA and no iodine requirement.
Note that the third number runs the other way. FFA, M&I and sulphur are ceilings, iodine value is usually a floor, because a buyer making FAME wants unsaturation and a buyer feeding a hydrotreater often does not. Read the direction before you agree the number.
The numbers behind those four, and what a buyer actually sets
The table below is the range we see across offers and specifications from different counterparties. It is not one specification and it is not ours: acceptance limits are set by the receiving plant and belong in your contract. What it does show is which values are normal, so you can tell whether an offer is ordinary or unusual.
| Parameter | Range seen | What it decides |
|---|---|---|
| FFA, free fatty acid | 3 %, 5 % and 7.5 % max are all common. Separate grades exist far higher, up to 30 %. | The main price driver. It rises with age and with how the oil was handled, so it is also a proxy for the collection chain. |
| M&I, moisture and impurities | 2 % max, in every specification we see. | Settlement weight and pretreatment load. You pay freight on both. |
| IV, iodine value | Minimum 50, 60, 70 or 80 depending on the buyer; sometimes a maximum of 120. | Unsaturation. Drives cold flow in FAME and hydrogen consumption in HVO, which is why the two routes ask for opposite things. |
| Sulphur | 15 to 80 ppm max, and tightening. | The gate for HVO and SAF producers, where it poisons the hydrotreating catalyst. A FAME producer is far more relaxed about it. |
| Phosphorus | 30 ppm at the tight end, 450 ppm where the buyer pretreats. | Catalyst poison, and a direct measure of how much pretreatment the receiver has to do. |
| Density at 15 C | 0.86 to 0.90 g/cm3, or 900 to 920 kg/m3. | Volume to weight conversion, and a first check that the material is what it says it is. |
| Flash point | Above 180 C. | Classification and transport. A low result points at solvent or mineral oil contamination. |
| Total nitrogen | Reported rather than capped; results between roughly 130 and 460 mg/kg are normal. | A hydrotreatment constraint that buyers increasingly ask for. |
Two lines cause most of the arguments. Sulphur, because a parcel sold to a FAME producer at 80 ppm is unsellable to a hydrotreater at 15, and the seller often does not know which one he is talking to. And FFA, because it keeps rising while the oil sits: a number measured at loading is not the number on arrival, which is why the sampling point belongs in the contract and not in the covering email.
For what each parameter physically means, see parameters explained. For why the test method belongs next to the limit, see test methods and analysis.
Specification: what a producer screens on
UCO is priced against a fairly settled set of parameters. The first three carry most of the value, and sulphur has become materially more important as hydrotreatment capacity has grown relative to transesterification.
| FFA (free fatty acid) | Percentage as oleic. The primary quality and price driver. |
|---|---|
| MIU (moisture, impurities, unsaponifiables) | Combined, and normally also reported individually. |
| Moisture | Karl Fischer or oven; settlement weight and processing yield. |
| Total contamination / filterable solids | Food particles and fines. |
| Iodine value (IV) | Degree of unsaturation; drives cold-flow and oxidative stability in the finished fuel. |
| Sulphur | Increasingly the gate for HVO and SAF producers, where it poisons hydrotreating catalyst. |
| Phosphorus | Catalyst impact and pretreatment load. |
| Polyethylene / polymer content | From packaging and fryer handling; a recurring problem in poorly managed collection. |
| Mineral oil content | A fraud and contamination marker as much as a quality one. |
| Titre / melting behaviour | Handling, heated storage and pumpability. |
| Certification | ISCC EU or equivalent, with the correct scope and a valid proof of sustainability. |
Certification and the reason it is scrutinised
UCO qualifies as an Annex IX Part B feedstock, and biofuels made from Part B feedstocks are subject to a cap: 1.7 % of transport energy per member state, with the possibility for a member state to request a higher limit where feedstock availability justifies it. That cap, plus the greenhouse-gas value of waste-based fuel, is what puts UCO at a premium to virgin oil.
That premium is exactly why the category attracts scrutiny. The persistent concern across the market is virgin or palm-derived oil being presented as used, and it has had concrete consequences: following an anti-dumping investigation, the EU imposed definitive anti-dumping duties on biodiesel from China ranging from roughly 10 % to 35.6 % by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/261, published on 11 February 2025.
The practical effect for anyone trading UCO today is that buyers audit harder than they did five years ago. Collection-point-level records, consistent volumes that match the claimed collection base, and analysis that looks like used oil rather than fresh oil are what get a supplier through due diligence.
Double counting is a separate question from the cap, and it is now member state specific. Several member states, including the Netherlands and Germany, have moved away from multipliers in their RED III implementation. Do not assume a multiplier applies in the destination market, check the national scheme.
Where UCO goes
For what the finished fuel then has to meet, see FAME biodiesel and HVO, bionaphtha and SAF.
- FAME / UCOME producers: transesterification into biodiesel; the traditional and still the largest outlet.
- HVO and renewable diesel producers: hydrotreatment; more sensitive to sulphur, phosphorus and metals, and generally paying for pretreated or low-contaminant material.
- SAF producers: the HEFA route; the tightest specification of the three and the most demanding on documentation.
- Oleochemical outlets: for material that does not qualify or does not fit the energy chain.
Where the volume actually comes from and goes
Useful orientation if you are new to this flow, because the trade routes are more concentrated than people expect.
- Roughly 80 % of the world UCO market ends up in biofuels. The rest goes to oleochemical and industrial outlets.
- Asia is by far the largest supplier, with most of that volume exported. Malaysia and Indonesia are the largest single origins, alongside significant volumes out of Russia and Saudi Arabia.
- The Netherlands, Spain and Belgium together account for the overwhelming majority of EU imports, on the order of 97 %. Which is why sitting near the ARA range is not a detail for a broker in this product.
- UCO is the primary feedstock for HEFA-SAF, HVO and UCOME worldwide, so these three demand streams compete for the same tonne.
Non ISCC UCO, and why that market is growing
Not every tonne of used cooking oil is certified, and there is a real and expanding market for the material that is not. It is worth understanding rather than dismissing.
Certification costs money and takes time, and a great deal of genuine, well collected UCO sits with collectors who have not yet gone through the process, or whose certificate does not cover a particular activity or origin. That material cannot go into an EU renewable fuel claim, but it is not worthless: it has established outlets in oleochemicals, in industrial and technical applications, in energy recovery, and in markets outside the EU mandate framework.
The practical point for a seller is that uncertified UCO trades in a different market against different buyers, and pretending otherwise wastes everybody's time. We will tell you plainly which market you are in. The practical point for a buyer is that non certified material can be a sensible route where the end use does not depend on counting the volume, and it frequently prices accordingly.
One thing we will not do is move uncertified material into a chain where a certified claim is being made. That is precisely the behaviour that produced the fraud problem the whole sector is now paying for.
Food waste oil and related streams
Alongside classic fryer oil there is a wider family of oily waste streams coming out of food production and food service, and they are handled less consistently than UCO because they arrive in smaller, messier lots.
- Food waste oil, recovered oil and fat from food manufacturing, processing and food service waste streams.
- Grease trap and interceptor material, and the recovered oil fraction from it. Genuinely different from fryer oil in quality and in the pretreatment it needs.
- Fat, oil and grease (FOG) from wastewater treatment.
- Expired and off specification food oils, where the food outlet has closed but the material is intact.
- Bakery and snack production residues carrying recoverable oil.
How UCO actually ships, and in what parcel size
Volume questions come before specification questions more often than people expect, because the parcel size decides which buyers can even look at it.
| Mode | Parcel size |
|---|---|
| Flexibag in a 20 ft container | 19 to 20 MT |
| ISO tank, international movement | 20 to 21 MT per tank |
For a first trial most sellers think in one container. A buyer who works ISO tanks will usually want to know how many tanks a month you can hold, not what a single parcel weighs, so have that number ready as well.
What a UCO buyer checks before they bid
We act for collectors and aggregators who want a reliable home for regular volume rather than a marginally better price on a one-off load, and for producers who need predictable, certified, auditable supply.
What we ask for up front is the certificate with its scope, a recent analysis, honest volumes per month and the logistics reality, road tanker, flexitank, ISO tank or parcel. What we will not do is present a cargo as certified when the certificate does not cover it. That protects the collector as much as the buyer: in this market a supplier's reputation for clean documentation is worth more than any single cargo.
Frequently asked questions
What ruins a load of used cooking oil?
Water and soap residue from fryer cleaning, burned food particles, and above all any mineral oil contamination. That last one is the serious one: motor oil in a collection tank can turn an entire load from a saleable feedstock into a hazardous waste disposal cost, and the loss is the whole load rather than a discount on it. It is worth being strict with collection points about what goes in the drum, because you cannot separate it out afterwards.
How much used cooking oil does a restaurant actually produce?
Far less than people expect individually, which is why this is an aggregation business rather than a single-site one. A typical restaurant produces a drum or two a month; a fast food outlet with high fryer turnover produces considerably more. The commercial reality is that no single kitchen is a cargo. Value is built by collectors who consolidate many small sources into container or tanker lots, and the cost of that logistics is most of the economics.
How is UCO priced?
Against vegetable oil and biodiesel references, adjusted for quality, with certification status as a separate and substantial factor. Free fatty acid content, moisture, impurities and unsaponifiables all move the number, and an Annex IX Part B claim that survives an audit moves it a great deal more. That is why we say the certificate is part of the product: the same oil with and without a defensible chain of custody is two different commercial propositions.
What specification does UCO need to meet?
There is no single universal trading spec, but the standard analysis is FFA, MIU (moisture, impurities and unsaponifiables), moisture separately, iodine value, sulphur, phosphorus and total contamination. FFA and MIU carry most of the price. Sulphur has become materially more important because HVO and SAF producers hydrotreat and sulphur poisons their catalyst. Each producer sets its own acceptance limits.
Is UCO an Annex IX Part A or Part B feedstock?
Part B. Biofuels from Part B feedstocks, used cooking oil, and category 1 and 2 animal fats, are capped at 1.7 % of transport energy per member state, though a member state may request a higher cap where feedstock availability justifies it. Part A covers advanced feedstocks such as lignocellulosic material, manure, sewage sludge and algae, and is a separate target.
Does UCO still count double in the EU?
That now depends on the member state. Multipliers were a feature of earlier implementations, and under RED III several member states, including the Netherlands and Germany, have moved away from them. Because it is set nationally, check the scheme in the destination market rather than assuming a multiplier applies.
Why is UCO from China subject to anti-dumping duties?
The duties apply to biodiesel, not to the raw feedstock. Following an anti-dumping investigation into imports of HVO and FAME from China, the Commission imposed definitive duties of roughly 10 % to 35.6 % by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/261, published on 11 February 2025. The investigation sat against a background of concern that palm-derived biodiesel was being presented as UCO-derived.
What certification do you need to sell UCO into the EU biofuel chain?
ISCC EU is the most widely used voluntary scheme, with REDcert and others also recognised. What matters is that the certificate scope actually covers the material and the activity, and that a valid proof of sustainability accompanies each delivery. Buyers increasingly audit the collection base behind the certificate, not just the certificate itself.
Do you work with small collectors?
Yes. Aggregating regular volume from smaller collectors into parcels that a producer can contract is one of the more useful things a broker does in this market. The requirement is certification and consistent, honest volumes, a collector who overstates monthly availability creates a problem that surfaces at the worst possible moment.
What is the Union Database for Biofuels (UDB)?
The EU database that tracks sustainable fuel consignments through the supply chain, which went live in November 2024. It exists to make traceability verifiable rather than declared, and it was introduced substantially in response to concerns about mislabelled waste-based feedstock. If you are placing UCO into the EU chain, expect your data to be in it and expect buyers to check.
How much UCO fraud is there really?
Estimates of mislabelling in global UCO trade have been put in the range of 20 to 30 %, which is why buyers audit as hard as they do and why the UDB was introduced. We are not in a position to verify any single market-wide number, but the practical consequence is not in dispute: a supplier who can evidence the collection base behind the certificate is in a materially stronger position than one who cannot.
Is Asian-origin UCO harder to place in Europe?
It faces more scrutiny. Buyers generally require full chain-of-custody documentation proving waste origin, and some member states and some buyers apply additional checks for the most sensitive mandate applications. It moves, and a good deal of it does, but the documentation has to be genuinely solid rather than merely present.
What GHG saving does UCO-based fuel achieve?
Waste-based feedstocks including UCO are commonly cited at up to around 88 % greenhouse gas saving against fossil diesel, though the figure that matters commercially is the actual number on the proof of sustainability accompanying your consignment, not a default or a headline. Where a buyer's claim depends on the saving, contract against the actual figure.
Do you trade non ISCC certified UCO?
Yes, and that market is growing. Uncertified material cannot go into an EU renewable fuel claim, but it has real outlets in oleochemicals, industrial and technical applications, energy recovery and markets outside the EU mandate framework. It trades against different buyers at different levels, and we will tell you plainly which market you are in. What we will not do is move uncertified material into a chain where a certified claim is being made.
Do you handle food waste oil and grease trap material?
Yes. Food waste oil from manufacturing and food service, grease trap and interceptor material, fat oil and grease from wastewater treatment, and expired or off specification food oils. These arrive in smaller and messier lots than fryer oil and need more pretreatment, so the buyer list is narrower, but there is a genuine market and a lot of this material is currently disposed of rather than sold.
Do you publish UCO prices?
No. We do not publish price assessments, and we do not republish other people's. Market levels are discussed directly with counterparties. If you want a published assessment there are established price reporting agencies for that; what we offer is a read on where business is actually clearing.
Market news
The most recent headlines touching this market, followed by wider news from across the feedstock and renewable fuel sector. The links go to the publisher; we do not host or edit their reporting, and a headline here is not our endorsement of it. Scroll for more.
- Kimchi waste could become viable feedstock for bioplastics
- Braskem biobased polymer helps Deterra drug disposal pouch earn packaging awards
- Eni and PETRONAS to explore high-performance bio-gasoline
- Linglong signs $2 billion Egypt investment MoU
- BTMA to represent European national associations at Tyres Europe board meetings
- Osaka Gas claims STS LNG bunkering first in Osaka Bay
- ISWG-GHG 22: Non-profits react
- USTC brings Copenhagen-based offices together in new hub
- ORLEN instigates new Baltic regional energy initiative
- TotalEnergies Lubmarine launches lubricant for 4-stroke medium speed marine engines
- IMO carbon price heads for December showdown
- LyondellBasell: Pyrolysis Reactors Installed for MoReTec Plant in Wesseling
- Sustainable aviation fuel pioneer completes successful trials
- Louis Dreyfus Company to generate biogas from citrus waste
- Nature by Design: A decade of IUCN, Monaco collaboration driving circular solutions for biodiversity
- European Digital Sustainability Skills Conference
- UCL reacts to IMO ISWG-GHG: ‘Steady progress on the Net Zero Framework’ made but ‘high uncertainty’ remains
- ISWG-GHG 22: ‘Genuine willingness’ for further NZF progress, observes Chair
18 headlines, updated automatically. Last refreshed .
Sources and further reading
Primary sources for the rules and figures on this page, so you can check them yourself. Legislation is amended: always read the consolidated text on the date that matters to you.
- Document checklist: exactly which papers a European buyer asks for, per product
- SPECIMEN safety data sheet: Used cooking oil (worked example, all 16 sections)
- S&P Global Commodity Insights, global biofuels specifications guide
- Directive (EU) 2018/2001 (RED II), consolidated text on EUR-Lex
- Directive (EU) 2023/2413 (RED III) on EUR-Lex
- Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009 on animal by-products
- ISCC System, the certification scheme itself
Who to ask about Used cooking oil (UCO)
Just ask. Collector volume to place, or a producer looking for certified, traceable supply? Let's talk. You get Bart van den Brug on the other end, same working day, in English or Dutch, and across the team also in French, Portuguese, Polish, Czech and Russian.
On how we work: on the feedstocks and fuels on this site we are a broker. We never take title, we do not trade our own book, and we are paid a commission on business that concludes. Additives are the one exception: those we also buy and sell for our own account, and we say in which capacity we are acting before you commit to anything. Either way you will hear it from us when the answer is no, or when your parcel is not ready for the conversation you want to have. A market read or a second opinion on a specification costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
Happy to look at whatever you have, even if it is half an analysis and a question.
+31 6 115 83 448
bart@sustainablecommodities.eu
Sustainable Commodities 3 B.V., Lemmer, the Netherlands
Ask about Used cooking oil (UCO)
Specification, volume, location and certification are enough to start.
Or e-mail us directly: bart@sustainablecommodities.eu
Last reviewed 08 September 2026. Regulatory references are given for orientation and are not legal advice: verify against the current Official Journal text before contracting.