Eni: 2024 Rubber Seed Harvesting Campaign Starts To Produce Vegetable Oil For Biorefineries

Eni announced Thursday the start of the 2024 rubber seed harvesting campaign involving thousands of small-scale producers in Côte d'Ivoire. The non-food oil produced will be sent to Enilive biorefineries for the production of biofuels that can contribute to the decarbonization of the transportation sector. The campaign launch was celebrated with a ceremony in Yamoussoukro, attended by the President of the Federation of Hevea Producers (FPH-CI), Michel Koblavi-Dibi, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of APROMAC, Charles Emmanuel Yace, and Eni Côte d'Ivoire Managing Director, M. Luca Faccenda.

Rubber seeds, an unused residue from the cultivation of the rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) widely grown in the country, represent a significant socio-economic development opportunity for local producers. Thanks to the collaboration launched in July 2023, the Federation of Hevea Producers (FPH-CI) of Côte d'Ivoire supplies Eni with the seeds which, through the use of local extraction facilities, are transformed into vegetable oil for industrial purposes and, together with biomass, to generate energy. This collaboration generates direct economic benefits for thousands of farmers and cooperatives and enables the continuation, along a path first launched in the world in October 2023, for the valorization of rubber seeds.

As part of Eni's decarbonization strategy, the project is in line with the agri-feedstock business model of vertical integration and Côte d'Ivoire's national development plans.

Eni said it has been operating in Côte d'Ivoire since 2015. The company is active in the country with initiatives ranging from hydrocarbon production to vegetable oil production for biorefining, as well as projects affecting local communities to improve access to health, education and training, contributing to the country's economic, social and energy development.