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The partnership between the Alves Bandeira Group, one of the 50 largest economic groups in the country, and Hardlevel will allow the circuit of recovery of this waste to more than 160 Alves Bandeira gas stations. It started at the Alves Bandeira station in Albergaria-a-Velha, last Friday.

 

With the intention of strengthening the economic valuation of used cooking oils (UCO), Hardlevel - Energias Renováveis, the main operator of the national market for collection and pretreatment of UCO, and the Alves Bandeira Group, established a partnership that will provide more than 160 Alves Bandeira gas stations, from north to south, with the latest intelligent technology of selective collection of UCO. The initial investment ascends to 250,000 euros.

 

The collaboration kicked off last Friday, at the Albergaria-a-Velha gas station, in a moment that served to inaugurate and present the Smart S+ waste oil reservoir that will be operating in the 100% Portuguese brand fuel stations. The event counted the presence of the companies' administrations, Salim Karmali, co-founder of Hardlevel, and José Baptista, executive administrator of the Alves Bandeira Group, in addition to António Loureiro, president of the Municipality of Albergaria-a-Velha.

 

It will be the first of many, in a step that reinforces the industry that in Portugal reintroduces the used cooking oil in the circuit, in the form of biofuel, thus helping the country move towards the European goals of reducing polluting emissions, carbon neutrality, and also to achieve greater energy independence.

 

Hardlevel is strengthening its operation in Portugal and Spain (where it has smart waste oil reservoirs in more than 200 municipalities).

 

The UCO collected in the Alves Bandeira network, says Salim Karmali, administrator and co-founder of Hardlevel, will be pre-treated to be processed into low carbon biofuel, which will be incorporated into fossil fuels in accordance with existing mandates and national incorporation targets.

 

According to José Baptista, executive administrator of the Alves Bandeira Group, "only about 40% of all used cooking oils are recycled, which means that there is still a lot of awareness work in this area, especially because we can give a second life to these wastes, transforming them into biofuel and thus making fossil fuels less polluting. As the Alves Bandeira Group is one of the main economic groups in the energy area, with more than 160 gas stations in the country, we are sure that we will be an active agent in this process and that we will accomplish, together with the local entities, the goal of helping and sensitizing the Portuguese to the importance of UCO recycling".

 

According to the terms of the partnership, some of the Alves Bandeira gas stations will also make available, for consumer acquisition, the domestic disposal facilitator of OAU, an innovation patented by Hardevel, under the name of Mini Olio Collecte.

 

 

About Hardlevel:

 

Hardlevel - Energias Renováveis is a leader in the Iberian Peninsula in the management and pretreatment of Used Food Oils (UCO), and one of the main European players in the sector. The company was founded in 2006 by brothers of Indian descent Karim and Salim Karmali, as part of a program to support Portuguese entrepreneurship. Hardlevel manages a global network of collection, pretreatment, recovery, and management of used cooking oils, in Portugal and abroad. And it is committed to growing its network in Spain and France, with the intention of valuing waste as a raw material for the production of advanced biofuels.

 

 

 

About the Alves Bandeira Group:

 

The Alves Bandeira Group is one of the main operators in the energy, mobility, and aftermarket sectors in Portugal and one of the 50 largest economic groups in our country. With approximately 50 years of history, the Alves Bandeira Group employs more than 800 employees and has more than 15,000 active business customers.

 

With a network composed of more than 160 gas stations distributed from north to south of the country, Alves Bandeira offers the market the best energy and mobility solutions, based on the highest standards of quality and safety and with total respect for the environment.