Global chemicals and energy company Sasol Chemicals – a business unit of Sasol – has announced that three of its largest manufacturing facilities in Europe have gained certification from the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) system.
The company said its facilities in Marl and Brunsbüttel, Germany, and in Augusta, Italy, had earned ISCC-PLUS certification for the use of mass balanced bio-based and recycled feedstocks in the production of alcohols, ethoxylates, linear alkylbenzenes and derivatives – key building blocks in a wide range of consumer and industrial products.
“This is an important milestone in our sustainability journey and a key enabler of our goal to reduce CO2 emissions,” Eurasia Chemicals senior vice president Jens Stratman said in a 27 July statement.
“Our customers are increasingly calling for more products made from sustainable raw materials. Now, they can have confidence that Sasol’s… products meet international standards for the sourcing and inclusion of circular and renewable feedstocks.”
The ISCC certification system offers solutions for the implementation and certification of sustainable, deforestation-free and traceable supply chains of agricultural, forestry, waste and residue raw materials, non-bio renewables and recycled carbon materials and fuels.
Sasol Chemicals said its German facilities were using mass balanced bio-ethylene, made from plant-based biomass and waste, along with recycled ethylene, while its Augusta facility was using mass balanced bio-benzene, recycled benzene and bio-recycled benzene.
These sustainable products were mixed with traditional feedstocks in a process called mass balance.
Using this process, Sasol Chemicals said it traced the flow of materials through its value chain to ensure that its end products had an equivalent volume of sustainable materials, in order to be ISCC-compliant.
“The use of mass balancing is critical today because it enables us to incorporate sustainable materials while still meeting the global demand for chemicals,” said Shelley Grahmann, senior vice president, strategy, sustainability and human capital.
“The current availability of bio and recycled materials is limited, but as their supply grows, we can increase their use and further reduce our dependence on fossil fuel-based feedstocks.”
To gain ISCC-PLUS designation, independent third-party audits were conducted to ensure compliance with high ecological and social sustainability requirements, greenhouse gas emissions savings and traceability throughout the supply chain.
Sasol Chemicals said it was targeting a 30% reduction in scope 1 and scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) by 2030.
The company is also focused on reducing scope 3 emissions through collaboration with customers, suppliers and industry alliances to develop sustainable and circular solutions, which is part of parent company Sasol’s commitment to achieve net zero by 2050.
South Africa-based Sasol Chemicals offers a portfolio of speciality chemicals for a wide range of applications and industries.
