Spanish multinational energy and petrochemical company Repsol will invest more than €800 million in the Tarragona Ecoplanta, a pioneering project in Europe to produce renewable methanol from urban waste.

Renewable methanol is a key building block for the chemicals and fuels market.

The project represents a boost to economic growth and employment in the Tarragona area, with the creation of 340 jobs when the plant enters operation and 2,800 jobs during the construction phase. Due to its innovative nature and the high potential for reducing emissions, the facility has received EU funding.

Ecoplanta’s innovative gasification technology is capable of handling a wide range of waste compositions. This makes the project highly replicable at other European sites and therefore offers the potential to reduce waste and GHG emissions on a much larger scale. This adaptability is not only environmentally friendly, but also beneficial for the economy.

By processing locally sourced municipal solid waste, energy that would otherwise be needed to transport raw materials to distant biofuel facilities is being saved. Also, by using the carbon and energy stored in municipal solid waste, the project reduces emissions and unlocks waste’s full potential as a valuable resource.

According to the European Commission, the Ecoplanta will reduce the equivalent of 3.4 million tons of CO₂ in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during the first ten years of operation.

The new plant will have the capacity to process up to 400,000 tons of municipal solid waste per year and turn them into 240,000 tons of renewable fuels and circular products.

Read the full press release here.

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