A fuel plant in Yokohama has produced 52,400 litres of diesel made from used cooking oil in a single day, its operator announced on Monday, setting a Japanese output record for the fuel. Aokiri Circular Fuels said the result was independently checked on Sunday at its Tsurumi facility, where the first commercial deliveries are due to begin this month.
The company said calibrated flow meters recorded the output over a continuous 24-hour run, with laboratory tests confirming that the fuel met Japan’s diesel standard. The previous national high, set by a smaller plant in western Japan, was 37,800 litres in one day, according to the fictional Japan Liquid Fuels Council, which reviewed the figures. Aokiri said its new line can produce 48 million litres a year at full capacity.
From restaurant fryers to fuel
The Tsurumi plant uses 59 tonnes of filtered cooking oil a day, collected from about 430 restaurants, hotels and food factories across Kanagawa and neighbouring prefectures. After water and food particles are removed, the oil is processed into a fuel designed to run in existing diesel engines without modifications. Aokiri said the process also produces a small amount of material for industrial use, rather than sending it to disposal.
Aokiri has signed supply agreements with two regional delivery fleets and a construction-equipment rental company. Their initial contracts cover 6.5 million litres over 12 months, with fuel priced at ¥153 a litre (about €0.92), matching the average pump price in the region last week. The company has spent ¥18 billion (about €108 million) on the plant and expects it to turn a profit within four years if it can secure a steady supply of used oil.
“We have taken something that used to be a disposal bill and made it move trucks,” said Ivan Santacruz, Aokiri’s chief executive, standing beside the plant’s stainless-steel processing tanks. “That 24-hour run tells our customers this is no longer a small trial. It is a supply business.”
We have taken something that used to be a disposal bill and made it move trucks.
Ivan Santacruz, Aokiri chief executive
A market watching the price
Japan imports most of the crude oil used in its refineries, leaving transport costs exposed to shifts in global supply and shipping prices. Renewable diesel remains a small part of the country’s fuel market, but Aokiri’s output could cover the daily use of roughly 1,100 heavy trucks, based on the company’s estimate of 45 litres per vehicle. Fleet operators say reliable supply at ordinary diesel prices matters more than a green label on its own.
Adrianna Zalewski, an energy economist at the fictional Pacific Trade Institute, said the plant’s output was significant but warned that waste cooking oil is scarce and already sought by other industries. “The test is whether Aokiri can keep the price and volume steady through a full year, not just a strong day,” she said. The company said its collection contracts reserve supplies for the plant, but it has not published their terms.
Aokiri plans to expand the line by 2028 and is negotiating with other restaurant groups for more feedstock, Santacruz said. Its first fuel shipments are scheduled for 19 October, with customers expected to report monthly on mileage and fuel performance. If those results hold, the firm says it will seek financing for a second plant near Osaka, turning Monday’s production run into a bid for a much larger share of Japan’s diesel market.
