Syndial, the environmental remediation arm of Eni, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with waste services company Veritas to study the construction of a plant that will transform the organic fraction of solid municipal waste (OFSMW) into bio-oil and bio-methane.

The plant would be sited on an abandoned and reclaimed area within Eni’s Porto Marghera petrochemical complex in Venice, Italy. Subject to obtaining the necessary permits, Syndial and Veritas estimate investing around €60 million in the project.

Under the terms of the MoU, the companies will share technical and governance assessments for the management and construction of the plant, which will be able to process up to 150,000 t/y of organic waste.

Specifically, Veritas should provide at least 100,000 t/y of OFSMW and other humid waste fractions collected separately from the Venice metropolitan area and the referral market.

In addition to providing the land, Syndial will build and manage the plant, which will be based on Eni’s proprietary waste-to-fuel technology. The bio-oil from the facility can be used directly as a sulfur-free fuel for naval vessels or further refined to produce biofuels for transport. Syndial launched a first waste-to-fuel pilot plant in Gela, Sicily, last December.

The Italian energy group said this latest agreement marked a further step forward in its strategy of applying circular economy principles to its business. The company said it was the first in the world to convert its ‘traditional’ refinery at Porto Marghera into a biorefinery, which has been in operation since May 2014. The facility converts organic raw materials into high-quality biofuels, such as green diesel, green naphtha and LPG.

Last month, Eni signed an MoU with Indonesia’s Pertamina to explore opportunities in areas that include converting waste into low-carbon products and renewable energies.