NatureWorks has launched a new initiative to ensure that by 2020 100% of the agricultural feedstock for its Ingeo biopolymers – which are currently derived from renewable sources such as corn and used in a range of products including apparel fibres – will be certified to the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification System (ISCC) PLUS standard of best practices in agricultural production.
NatureWorks was the first biopolymers manufacturer to become certified to the standard in 2012 and currently has more than 40% of its agricultural feedstock certified. At full capacity, more than 90 farms will be involved in the programme by 2020.
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The company is also working to ensure 100% of its Vercet performance chemicals are identified to the standard in the same timeframe.
ISCC PLUS is an independent third-party sustainability certification system developed in a multi-stakeholder initiative. The comprehensive programme certifies the sustainability of agricultural feedstocks used for biobased products, including both the environmental and social aspects of agricultural production.
Site-specific audits and certificates ensure full traceability and chain of custody along the supply chain, ensuring that the total volume of Ingeo received by the final user of the product can be traced back (and documented through a mass balance system) to the equivalent amount of certified, sustainable crop produced. ISCC certification has been adopted by global brands and is supported by non-governmental organisations.
“New materials innovation is being driven by the tenants of the circular bioeconomy, and as we seek to decouple plastics from fossil feedstocks, we remain committed to feedstock diversification and to critically assessing the sustainability of each and every feedstock we use,” says Rich Altice, CEO and president of NatureWorks.
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