RDX Technologies Corporation and Omega Protein Corporation have partnered together for the latter company to reduce sulfur emissions by 80% and greenhouse gas emissions by 85% at its Virginia facility, US.
Through the partnership, Omega Protein has since been transitioning from petroleum oil to a lower-cost renewable fuel derived from everyday oils found in wastewater.
The new fuel source provided by RDX Technologies is an EPA-approved, carbon-neutral renewable diesel oil (RDO) made from everyday food and cooking oils collected from wastewater.
Since 2012, Omega Protein has replaced more than three million gallons of residual oil with RDO fuel.
The two companies are working to further streamline the program by developing a growing infrastructure to supply the renewable fuel from local, in-state waste sources.
Waste oils for RDO primarily consist of soy, canola, and similar vegetable oils, but can include additional sources such as animal fats and alcohols.
These oils are currently collected from wastewater discards all around the country, but RDX Technologies is constructing a handful of new fuel plants in Virginia to eventually source and ship Omega Protein’s renewable oil entirely in-state.
This will bring new jobs to Virginia, decrease area landfill, and curtail transportation costs and pollution.
Savings for communities
The growing partnership also means more savings for Virginia communities.
Each year in the US, about six billion gallons of these recyclable oils are dumped into sewage systems and end up solidified in landfills.
Besides being wasteful, this is an expensive process for many businesses, which have to pay disposal fees, and for local municipalities that are then tasked with costly water treatment.
RDX Technologies collects these wastewater oils before they are processed, which saves unneeded energy and expenses for Virginia businesses and communities.
“This is the future of renewables,” says Dennis M. Danzik, CEO of RDX Technologies.
“Every restaurant, university, hospital, high rise buildings are all oil wells to us.”
