UMeWorld advances Malaysia SAF feedstock facility into industrial execution

UMeWorld Ltd., a company advancing enzymatic biorefining solutions for renewable fuels and functional nutrition, announced Jan. 20 key execution milestones for its Malaysia sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) feedstock facility, marking the project’s transition into industrial execution.  

The facility is designed to supply SAF-ready renewable fuel intermediates to refiners and SAF aggregators seeking compliant, scalable feedstock solutions. 

The Malaysia SAF feedstock initiative will be executed through UMeWorld’s newly formed Malaysian subsidiary, Verdant Sustainable Fuel Sdn. Bhd., which was incorporated Jan. 16 and will manage project development, construction and commercial operations. 

The global aviation industry faces a structural constraint in scaling SAF—the limited availability of qualified, low-carbon waste-based feedstocks that can be efficiently processed by existing refinery infrastructure.  

Many refineries encounter technical and economic challenges when handling high-acidity and impurity-rich waste oils such as palm-oil mill effluent (POME) and used cooking oil (UCO), which can degrade conventional catalysts and increase operating costs.  

UMeWorld said its Malaysia platform is designed to address this constraint by converting difficult-to-process waste lipids into specification-driven renewable fuel intermediates.  

These intermediates are intended to integrate with existing hydroprocessing and SAF upgrading units, reducing the need for costly refinery modifications and expanding the pool of usable waste-based feedstocks. 

The company said its Malaysia platform is built around a technology-enabled conversion process designed to expand the usable universe of waste-based feedstocks for renewable fuel production.  

Unlike conventional processing approaches that struggle with high-acidity and impurity-rich inputs, the platform is engineered to consistently upgrade challenging waste lipids into renewable fuel intermediates compatible with existing refinery systems.  

According to UMeWorld, the conversion process is designed to operate under lower-severity conditions than conventional chemical-refining approaches, improving feedstock tolerance, reducing degradation risk and enabling more efficient downstream integration. 

This technology advantage is expected to deliver tangible commercial benefits for fuel offtakers: 

• Broader feedstock access, enabling utilization of waste streams typically constrained or excluded by traditional refining processes.  

• Infrastructure compatibility, producing intermediates designed to integrate with existing hydroprocessing and SAF upgrading units. 

• Improved economics, supporting competitive pricing by reducing feedstock constraints and downstream processing complexity.    

“The SAF market does not face a demand problem—it faces a feedstock and economics problem,” said Michael Lee, the CEO of UMeWorld. “Our Malaysia platform is designed to unlock underutilized waste feedstocks and convert them into intermediates that refineries can actually use while maintaining disciplined and predictable economics. That combination is essential for SAF to scale sustainably.” 

The Malaysia SAF feedstock facility is engineered to meet European Union ReFuelEU aviation carbon-intensity thresholds and is planned with an initial nameplate capacity of approximately 10,000 metric tons per year.  

The plant architecture emphasizes modularity, enabling future expansion and replication.  

Key execution milestones include: 

• Operating entity in place—Verdant Sustainable Fuel Sdn. Bhd. incorporated Jan. 16. 

• Site selection underway—final site selection targeted within the next 90 days, prioritizing feedstock density, logistics access and port connectivity.  

• Construction timeline—subject to site finalization and permitting progression, initial construction activities are expected to begin later in 2026.   

The Malaysia SAF feedstock initiative is a cornerstone of UMeWorld’s 2026 strategy, which prioritizes the development of scalable, capital-efficient industrial biofuel infrastructure alongside the continued expansion of the company’s DAGola™ functional nutrition platform.  

By deploying a consistent and replicable processing platform across both sectors, UMeWorld said it aims to strengthen operational efficiency, enforce cost discipline and create durable long-term shareholder value.