The company, located at the Figueira da Foz port terminal, was operating in 2025 without the necessary licenses and was investigated for the possible crime of pollution with public danger.

According to the base report attached to the public consultation process, dated March, that industrial unit has the capacity to produce biodiesel - from used cooking oils, oleins and fatty acids - and glycerin.

"Biodiesel produced from used oils is considered a second-generation biofuel, or advanced biofuel, whose production allows the use of a raw material that would otherwise be discarded as waste, functioning as an alternative fuel to diesel, and can be used as a substitute for conventional diesel without requiring engine modifications," the document states.

According to the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), which is promoting the public consultation, "all observations and suggestions submitted in writing will be appreciated and considered, provided they are specifically related to the installation under evaluation."

In March of last year, the Central Region Coordination and Development Commission (CCDRC) and the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) revealed that BioAdvance operated without an Operating Title and an Environmental License, prompting a report to the General Inspectorate of Agriculture, Sea, Environment and Spatial Planning (IGAMAOT).

The company's installation in Figueira da Foz resulted from a concession contract signed in August 2022 with the port administration, which issued the operating license in December of the same year.

BioAdvance, headquartered in the municipality of Pombal (Leiria district), where it has a smaller unit, established itself at the port of Figueira da Foz after its application to the Business Innovation Incentive System – Green was approved and the project was recognised as of Potential National Interest (PIN).

In February 2025, the CCDRC confirmed the suspension of the PIN project status due to the lack of a Digital Installation Title, "which would enable the execution of the type 1 industrial establishment project".

"Without this title, it could not have executed the project and, consequently, cannot carry out any activity on the site," it said at the time, in clarification to the Lusa news agency.

The Portuguese Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade (AICEP) also cited the unit's lack of licenses as the reason for suspending the PIN project status. Despite not yet having received licensing approval, Bioadvance had received approximately four million euros in EU funds by March 2025, according to data consulted by the Lusa news agency.