German chemical and biotech giant BASF has reached its target of procuring palm kernel oil exclusively from Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)-certified sources by 2020, the company announced on 4 March.
Last year, BASF said it had purchased 227,213 tonnes of certified sustainable palm kernel oil (CSPKO).
As in previous years, the company published its product carbon footprint (PCF) for sourcing CSPKO and said that compared to conventional sourcing, it avoided more than 300,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions in 2020, with RSPO-certified production of palm kernel oil (PKO) showing around 36% lower global warming impact than non-certified production.
“While having reached this important milestone, BASF is now fully focused on the other part of its 2015 commitment: to also include the commitment of certified sourcing to those significant intermediates which are based on palm oil and PKO by 2025, such as fatty alcohols and fatty acids.”
PKO and its primary derivatives are mainly used in human nutrition and also to produce ingredients for the cosmetics, detergent and cleaning industries.
BASF added that it had also made further progress in developing transparent supply chains with 95% of its global palm footprint – totalling 441,107 tonnes – traceable back to the oil mill level.
