The investigation found that a major Malaysian UCO supplier to Neste accepted fresh palm oil during public collection drives without adequate verification that the material was genuinely spent cooking oil. Malaysian customs data cited in the reporting suggests Neste sourced roughly 250,000 tonnes of UCO from Malaysia in 2024 — more than double the country’s estimated annual collection capacity, a gap that raises questions about the true composition of the supply.
The core vulnerability, according to the reporting, sits at the collection stage: once oil streams from different sources are mixed at a collection point, it becomes very difficult for refiners further down the chain to verify whether a given batch is genuine waste oil or undeclared virgin palm oil. EU regulation prohibits the use of virgin palm oil in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production specifically because of its links to deforestation, but enforcement depends on traceability that the investigation suggests is not yet robust across the industry.
Neste has said it is “not aware of any confirmed fraud” in its supply chain, while acknowledging the “inherent complexity” of sourcing waste-based feedstock at global scale. A former Neste director was quoted in the reporting as saying no fuel producer can guarantee with absolute certainty that its supply chain is free of virgin palm oil or mislabeled material.
The episode underscores a broader tension in the fast-growing SAF and renewable diesel market: as the price gap between waste-based and conventional fuel narrows, the financial incentive to cut corners on feedstock sourcing grows, even as buyers and regulators increasingly rely on UCO’s “waste, not virgin” status as the basis for its sustainability claims. Industry groups have pointed to stronger chain-of-custody certification and traceability technology as the most workable near-term fix.
Sources: Top green jet fuel producer linked to suspect waste-oil supply chain (ePlane AI, reporting on the Climate Home News/SVT investigation); background: Why UCO Traceability Matters (Neutral Fuels)
