RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil):
A non-profit organisation that unites stakeholders from the 7 sectors of the palm oil industry: oil palm producers, processors or traders, consumer goods manufacturers, retailers, banks/investors, and environmental and social non-governmental organisations (NGO's), to develop and implement global standards for sustainable palm oil.The organisation has a set of environmental and social criteria which companies must comply with in order to produce Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO). The RSPO has more than 3,000 members worldwide who represent all links along the palm oil supply chain. They have committed to produce, source and/or use sustainable palm oil certified by the RSPO.
HOWEVER
While RSPO member companies publicly claim that they are committed to sustainable palm oil, many are not meeting their RSPO commitments. Despite RSPO certification, all of the same destructive practices are occurring and the RSPO is failing to enforce its own minimal practices and criteria.
Part of the criteria to become a member of the RSPO was to make a commitment to eventually be 100% certified by 2015 or later. A brand can state they are members of the RSPO without actually sourcing CSPO, so just because RSPO are mentioned in brand statements it does not necessarily mean they are using certified oil.
The RSPO provides four supply chain options, to either support or use certified palm oil.
GreenPalm:
A certificate trading programme that allows manufacturers and retailers to purchase GreenPalm certificates from an RSPO certified palm oil grower to offset each tonne of palm oil and palm kernel they use. RSPO certified palm oil growers can convert their certified tonnage into certificates, each tonne converts to one GreenPalm certificate.
HOWEVER
This means that there is no guarantee that the end product contains certified sustainable palm oil.
GreenPalm is meant to be used as a temporary supply chain by Brands, however as this system allows brands to make sustainable claims without purchasing certified palm oil, many are using this system as long term supply. This system is being abused.
GreenPalm is a very cheap option for brands to purchase RSPO endorsed palm oil with a claim stating it supports the production of sustainable palm oil. It is important to note that the physical oil itself is not certified nor sustainable.
Mass Balance:
Certified sustainable palm oil and non-certified palm oil is mixed to avoid the costs of keeping the two separate. The refinery is only allowed to sell the same amount of Mass Balance palm oil as the amount of certified sustainable palm oil purchased.
HOWEVER
This means there is no guarantee that the end product contains certified palm oil. Brands using Mass Balance can claim that the palm oil used in their products supports the production of certified palm oil.
Identity Preserved:
Certified sustainable palm oil is physically separated from other certified and non-certified palm oil throughout the supple chain, i.e. from the RSPO certified mill through to the end user. The end user is able to trance the certified sustainable palm oil back to a specific single mill and its supply base (plantations).
HOWEVER
This level of traceability is costly, and is mainly used for high-end organic products.
Segregated:
Like the identity preserved option, certified sustainable palm oil is physically separated from non-certified palm oil throughout the supply chain. This option guarantees that the end product contains certified sustainable palm oil.
HOWEVER
The end user is only able to trace the certified sustainable palm oil back to a group of possible mills and their supply bases (plantations). Also, it can be expensive to keep certified and non-certified palm oil separate throughout the supply chain, particularly through various complex fractionation and blending processes.
Belvita
Maryland Biscuits
McVities Biscuits
Oreo
Ritz
Cheetos
Doritos
Pringles
Time Out
Fairy
Dove
Garnier
Head n Shoulders
Herbal Essences
Pantene
Schwarzkopf
Tresemme
Flora
Weight Watchers
Pot Noodles
L'Oréal
Nivea
Olay
Lynx
Old Spice
Radox
Oral-B
Sensodyne
No Deforestation Policies:
A no deforestation policy means that the brand or palm oil company has gone above and beyond vertification with extra standards including no peat and no exploitation. Brands with a no deforestation policy work with a third party to engage with their suppliers to track and map their supply chain.
No deforestation or zero deforestation does not mean that there is absolutely none deforestation in the supply chain, it does however mean that the company have strengthened and built upon the weaker RSPO standards to remove illegal deforestation from their supply chain.
Those with a No deforestation or zero deforestation policy also means that they have made a strong commitment to ensure that if illegal activity is found to be leaking into the supply then the company will take action to cut out that supply The companies with these policies are doing their utmost best to ensure the supply is ethical.
The Forest Trust:
All brands that are signed on with The Forest Trust have a palm oil sourcing policy which clearly states what they are doing about their supply chain and usage. These policies are a set of standards that show how they are engaging with suppliers and traceability progress. Policies with The Forest Trust go above and beyond RSPO certification standards.
Well-known brands part of The Forest Trust:
Danone
Ferrero
Hershey's
Johnson & Johnson
Mars
Nestle
Colgate/Palmolive
Clorox
Avon
Other well-known brands/products with a 'No deforestation policy':
Aero
Celebrations
Kinder
Kit Kat
M&Ms
Maltesers
Smarties
Snickers
Twix
Nutella
Neutrogena
Imperial Leather
Maggi
Sources:
https://rspo.org/about
http://greenpalm.org/about-greenpalm/what-is-green-palm
https://www.palmoilinvestigations.org/palm-oil-supply-chains.html
https://www.palmoilinvestigations.org/product-guide.html
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