Section ENVIRONMENT
TOPIC

HELLENiQ ENERGY
EKO INDUSTRIAL & COMMERCIAL SA "Participation in a research program for the utilization of organic waste and by-products of the Hellenic Army and the production of renewable fuels "

At EKO, we are committed to reducing our environmental footprint, contributing to environmental protection, and addressing climate change. We are reshaping our portfolio and evolving into a low-carbon energy solutions company. As part of our actions to achieve our goals, we are participating in the MARINES (Military wAstes Recylced INto fuElS) project, which focuses on utilizing organic waste and by-products from the Hellenic Army (HA) to produce renewable fuels for transportation, heating, and aviation, which are then returned to the HA supply chain. The project was implemented in collaboration with the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and the Hellenic Army, within the framework of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan "Greece 2.0", funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU (Implementing Body: EYPE EK).

The target audience includes:

-Armed forces
-Local government organizations
-Research and higher education institutions
-Research entities
-End consumers of fuels

The project started on 01/06/2022 and was completed on 30/07/2025.

The project aims to utilize food waste, plastics, and paper (resulting from the daily activities of the Hellenic Army (HA)) and convert them through hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) into bio-oil, which has similar characteristics to petroleum and is upgraded into liquid fuels. HTL is an ideal utilization solution compared to other technologies (pyrolysis), leveraging water (up to 80% in the feedstock) as a powerful medium for breaking down organics into hydrocarbons and yielding high-quality bio-oil.

The application of Circular Economy principles to the HA and industry (EKO) data enhances their collaboration with new terms of lower-cost fuel production – zero raw material cost (waste), 90% energy efficiency, and emissions cost (CO2 emissions reduction) – yielding jointly reaped profits. The HA has 100,000 personnel, whose waste (combined with that of urban areas around HA units and their sewage) yields at least 45,000 tons of bio-oil, equivalent to 50,000,000 liters of fuel annually, resulting in an annual reduction in fuel purchase costs of €4-7,000,000. The project also contributes to reducing landfill flows and enhancing the HA's energy autonomy (a matter of National Security).

The project combines the waste collection-utilization system implementation infrastructure and safety and environmental expertise of the Hellenic Army Academy (SSE), with the process development/optimization infrastructure and expertise of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and the quality control and fuel formulation infrastructure of EKO (Helleniq Energy Group).

The project was implemented in collaboration with the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and the Hellenic Army, within the framework of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan "Greece 2.0", funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU (Implementing Body: EYPE EK).

The participatory action of specialized EKO employees is at the core of the project. For the needs of the project, a special working group was formed, which worked on the project voluntarily, alongside their other duties.

Attica:

-NTUA Facilities, Department of Chemical Engineering
-Headquarters and Skaramagas Facility, EKO
-Hellenic Army Academy (HAA)

-An integrated organic waste management network (of the Hellenic Army Academy) was developed and established, tested, and practically applied.
-Prototype HTL (Hydrothermal Liquefaction) equipment was developed (by the National Technical University of Athens) and the process efficiency was optimized to produce a cost-competitive bio-oil product compared to petroleum.
-Bio-oil was produced and tested in blends with conventional transportation, heating, and aviation fuels, whose properties were compared with the requirements for the corresponding commercial fuels.

The project was an innovative business initiative for EKO, through which substantial collaborations were developed for the further advancement of innovative entrepreneurship. EKO's staff gained significant experience in research and innovation, while the produced bio-oil will be the subject of further research within the framework of EKO's strategy for reshaping its portfolio.