Ecoslops, Total Plan Micro-refinery in La Mède
Ecoslops, a company that upgrades ship-generated hydrocarbon residues, or “slops”, into valuable new fuels and light bitumen, said is has signed an agreement with TOTAL Group to set up a maritime transport induced oil residue waste-processing unit at La Mède, near Marseilles in the Bouches-du-Rhône. The agreement comes after the completion of technical and commercial studies, which commenced last year and were announced as a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in September 2016.
ECOSLOPS will build and operate the micro-refinery in La Mède, while TOTAL will provide services and all necessary utilities. The valuable commercial products (new fuels and light bitumen) produced by the unit will be sold on local or international markets.
The building of the unit is slated to start during the second quarter of 2018, subject to obtaining the building and operating permits and necessary financing. The unit is expected be operational by the end of 2018.