Amsterdam to Invest €65 Million in New Second-Generation Biodiesel Plant

At a glance

Simadan Holding invests EUR 65 million in a new biodiesel plant in Amsterdam to increase production capacity and produce pharmaceutical grade bioglycerine. The plant will be part of a large ecological industrial complex, promoting eco-efficiency. Construction will be supervised by Port of Amsterdam, focusing on sustainability and innovation.

Simadan Holding announced an investment of EUR 65 million in a new, second-generation biodiesel plant in Amsterdam in order to safeguard further capacity for growth in the market for biofuels from waste products.

On 9 January 2014, Simadan Holding announced an investment of EUR 65 million in a new, second-generation biodiesel plant in Amsterdam in order to safeguard further capacity for growth in the market for biofuels from waste products. The plant will be operated by Simadan subsidiary Biodiesel Amsterdam. This development will enable the company to increase its biodiesel production capacity by 150,000 tonnes annually. The investment includes a glycerine distillation factory to produce 50,000 tonnes of pharmaceutical grade bioglycerine per year. The new plant will follow the model Simadan has used in designing processes with ever-lower environmental impacts. For the supply of raw materials and the transport of biodiesel from the biodiesel plants, a quay and jetty will be built under the supervision of Port of Amsterdam (Havenbedrijf Amsterdam NV).

The new plant

The new plant will be part of the largest ecological industrial complex in Europe. The brand-new 12-hectare location currently includes a biodiesel plant, a tank storage terminal, a two-hectare recycling factory, a biogas factory and a tank cleaning company. All organic waste products are turned into sustainable biodiesel, green energy and new bio raw materials. More than 99% of the incoming organic waste is turned into useful second-generation products. Peter Bakker, founder and owner of Simadan, said: “Our top-quality biodiesel has shown to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 85% when compared to fossil fuels.”

Rotie has moved premises

Simadan subsidiary Rotie has also moved to this new location in the port of Amsterdam. Rotie’s new recycling factory is equipped with state-of-the-art techniques in order to ensure that all recycling processes will become even more efficient and sustainable. Logistics and production costs are optimised by running all processes on one location. Rotie is one of the largest collectors of organic waste in Europe. Collected used cooking oils are turned into biodiesel and the organic waste from restaurants and the food industry is turned into biogas and green energy. “No waste or energy is lost in this new location. This is what we call eco-efficiency on an industrial scale,” said Chris Linderman, CEO of Simadan.

Simadan Holding is a privately owned company and has over 250 employees in the Netherlands and annual revenue of EUR 400 million.

Construction under supervision of Port of Amsterdam

For the supply of raw materials and the transport of biodiesel from the biodiesel plants, a quay and jetty will be built under the supervision of Port of Amsterdam.

Port of Amsterdam is committed to being a smart port and to adding value for customers and the environs in a sustainable and innovative manner. It seeks to promote growth at companies, while still taking a careful approach to the available space and the quality of water, soil and air. Port of Amsterdam aims to achieve this through intensive cooperation with partners in the business community (national and international), city and region.