Global chemical major, Germany-headed BASF has strengthened its operations network for certified palm-based products: the company now manufactures certified ingredients at 22 locations around the world for the cosmetics, detergent and cleaning agent industries. The latest site to receive the Supply Chain Certificate of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) has been Pulnoy in France where BASF produces active ingredients for the cosmetics industry.
By receiving the RSPO certification for the Pulnoy site, BASF includes parts of its actives portfolio in its offer of certified palm-based products according to the “Mass Balance” supply chain model. Although the respective actives do not contain palm kernel oil (PKO) themselves, their manufacturing process requires the use of palm-based auxiliaries that are now certified.
The “Mass Balance” model fosters the physical flow of certified raw materials within the oleo-derivatives supply chain.
With this new certification, we took a bold step towards the implementation of the RSPO standard for a broader part of our actives portfolio. We thereby respond to the needs of our customers and help them make their products more sustainable to live up to the requirements of the end consumers, said Xavier Susterac, Senior Vice President BASF Personal Care Europe.
Sustainable palm with major portfolio switch
As announced in April 2018, the company is shifting its Personal Care portfolio and will offer palm-based specialties for the cosmetics industry exclusively as certified sustainable. BASF made a commitment to switch about 330 palm-based products to RSPO ‘Mass Balance’ certified in the course of 2018 globally as part of its initiative “Time for Change”.
BASF produces palm-based ingredients for cosmetic products, detergents and cleaning agents as well as foodstuffs. The majority of oil palm products used by BASF are based on palm kernel oil (PKO) and its derivatives, to a lesser extent on palm oil.
In 2017, BASF processed 515 000 tonnes of palm-based raw materials. As palm cultivation is linked to deforestation, loss of biodiversity and social conflicts in the producing countries – mainly Indonesia and Malaysia – BASF has committed itself to source only RSPO-certified sustainable PKO by 2020.
In 2017, BASF’s share of RSPO-certified sustainable palm kernel oil amounted to approximately 51 percent. The BASF division Care Chemicals offers a broad range of ingredients for cosmetics, personal care, hygiene, home care, industrial & institutional cleaning, and technical applications.
