Idemitsu Kosan Co.,Ltd., (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director, President and Chief Executive Officer: Shunichi Kito, hereinafter referred to as “Idemitsu”) has terminated a business partnership with a European startup company TG2® GmbH and its related entities (“TG2”) with whom Idemitsu was previously jointly developing a project in Malaysia to produce biomass fuels from Empty Fruit Bunch (“EFB”, solid waste stream from the palm oil sector).
Although this business partnership has ended, Idemitsu will continue to consider the production of biomass fuel using EFB in Malaysia. Malaysia is the world’s second largest producer of palm oil and it is estimated that approximately 20 million tons of EFB are generated annually as waste from plantations in Malaysia. Most EFB are discarded in the plantations and left to decay anaerobically, causing environmental pollution, emitting methane gas which has a significant greenhouse effect.
Idemitsu believes that using EFB and other agricultural residues discarded in large quantities in Southeast Asia can contribute to Sustainable Development Goals.