We are constantly strengthening our sustainability policies through regular benchmarking against standards and best practices developed by national and international industry bodies. Our sustainability commitment and progress are further affirmed when our operations are certified against these standards and benchmarks.
ROUNDTABLE ON SUSTAINABLE PALM OIL (RSPO)
RSPO is a not-for-profit organisation that unites stakeholders from the seven sectors of the palm oil industry: oil palm producers, processors or traders, consumer good manufacturers, retailers, banks/investors, as well as environmental and social NGOs to develop and implement global standards for sustainable palm oil consisting of environmental and social criteria.
It has established the RSPO Principles and Criteria (P&C), a set of stringent standards for sustainable palm oil production, which RSPO producers (i.e. mills and plantations) must comply with. In the RSPO P&C, there are seven principles, 42 criteria and 179 indicators. It covers the most significant environmental and social impacts of palm oil production and the immediate inputs to production, such as seed, chemicals and water, and social impacts related to on-farm labour and community relations.
As an RSPO member, we are committed to adopting the RSPO P&C. As of June 2024, we have received RSPO certifications for ten of our subsidiaries, covering seven mills and more than 79,500 hectares (more than 44% from nucleus planted area) of plantations in the province of Riau, East Kalimantan, and West Kalimantan. In addition, our bulking station, three of our kernel crushing plants and a processing unit are certified against the RSPO Supply Chain Certification Standard.
We are currently working towards achieving RSPO certifications for the rest of our mill and plantations by 2026.
INDONESIAN SUSTAINABLE PALM OIL (ISPO)
The ISPO is a government-led effort aimed at creating a system for sustainable palm oil production and certification that will enhance Indonesia’s competitiveness in the global palm oil market and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from Indonesian oil palm plantations and operations. It is a mandatory certification scheme regulated by the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture.
As the ISPO certification system underwent an enhancement following the issuance of the Presidential Regulation No. 44/2020 in 2020, all new certifications were put on hold. The enhanced ISPO certification system and standards were only released in November 2020. It consist of seven principles, 30 criteria, 174 indicators and 411 verifiers covering legal issues, economic, environmental and social terms. As of June 2024, 14 of our subsidiaries covering 14 palm oil mills and more than 134,000 hectares of our plantations are ISPO-certified.
INTERNATIONAL SUSTAINABLE CARBON CERTIFICATION (ISCC)
ISCC was developed for the certification of biomass and bioenergy with orientations towards reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and non-development of land with high biodiversity value or high carbon stock.
As of June 2024, 51,020 hectares of our nucleus plantations and five palm oil mills are certified under the ISCC scheme. In addition, both our refineries, one bulking facility, and kernel crushing plant are ISCC-certified. Furthermore, we are delighted to announce that we obtained ISCC certification for waste and residues from Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) oil for 12 mills. As a result, we are able to provide customers with a fully traceable product under the ISCC scheme.
ISCC certifications demonstrate compliance with the European Union’s Renewable Energy Directive EU-RED-II (2018). The greenhouse gas emission savings from the use of biofuels, bioliquids, and biomass fuels taken into account for the purposes :
- at least 50% for biofuels, biogas consumed in the transport sector, and bioliquids produced in installations in operation on or before 5 October 2015;
- at least 60% for biofuels, biogas consumed in the transport sector, and bioliquids produced in installations starting operation from 6 October 2015 until 31 December 2020;
- at least 65% for biofuels, biogas consumed in the transport sector, and bioliquids produced in installations starting operation from 1 January 2021;
- at least 70% for electricity, heating and cooling production from biomass fuels used in installations starting operation from 1 January 2021 until 31 December 2025, and 80% for installations starting operation from 1 January 2026.