Join us for a look at RSPO and palm oil certification

If you've been searching the market for sustainably sourced palm oil, you've probably already come across with this acronym or organisation. The RSPO, or Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, provides a global standard for sustainable palm oil. However, if this is the first time you've heard of this certification, don't despair, you'll learn everything you need to know in this article.

RSPO CERTIFICATION

Producers and consumers alike are increasingly taking into account the environmental consequences and footprint of oil production. In particular, palm oil, which is sometimes associated with associated with environmentally unfriendly and unsustainable practices.


Due to increasing demands for sustainable sourcing of raw materials and global concerns about the unsustainable production of palm oil, the RSPO certification was created. This certificate serves as a guarantee to customers that palm oil production has been carried out in an environmentally sustainable manner.


Palm oil producers are certified after undergoing a rigorous inspection of production and cultivation practices. Only when all requirements based on RSPO principles and criteria have been met is a certificate awarded. At the same time, in the event of a negative change in the production and production process, the certificate can be withdrawn. Furthermore, the entire processing chain is monitored to prevent the mixing of certified oils with non-certified oils or oils obtained from non-organic practices without proper labelling of the resulting product.

TYPES OF CERTIFICATION

There are several certifications that producers can obtain. In the case of pure sustainable palm oil, there are two categories.


- IP (identity preserved) in this case, the palm oil can be traced directly back to its single source.
- Segregated oil - in this case the certified sustainably sourced palm oil is kept separately
from non-certified, but is obtained by blending several certified palm oils from different suppliers, i.e. it comes from different certified sources. Again, the oil can be traced back to its original producers.


There is also a label Mixed, where the palm oil is not 100% sustainably sourced, but instead is created by blending sustainably and conventionally sourced palm oil. This label is also common among producers as it is a cheaper and quicker process than producing 100% sustainably sourced palm oil.

WHAT IS MEANT BY SUSTAINABLE PALM OIL?

You may also be wondering what is meant by sustainable palm oil. According to the RSPO guidelines, it is palm oil that has been sourced on the condition that producers have respected and taken into accountlocal populations, avoided deforestation of protected areas and minimised the impact of production on the environment.


Being a member of the RSPO does not mean that a producer automatically produces only certified palm oil. However, membership of the RSPO does imply a time-bound commitment to more sustainable production and members must also demonstrate performance against targets to achieve this. The production of the oil itself must be approved before an RSPO member can be certified for the palm oil produced.

WHY CHOOSE CERTIFIED OIL?

Much has been written about the environmental unsustainability of palm oil production. Nevertheless, the fact remains that this oil has versatile uses ranging from food to cosmetics and would be difficult to replace in some products if the price of the product were to rise several times.


That is why organisations such as the RSPO are being set up to try to get oil producers to adopt more sustainable practices, while bringing transparency to the whole production chain. Thanks to annual reports from RSPO members, it is possible to track how much palm oil individual producers use and produce and what form of certification they use. As a result, consumers have more information before buying a product and can choose to buy a product made from more sustainably sourced raw materials.

RSPO AND CONCLUSION

Have you heard of RSPO or palm oil certification? Do you use palm oil in your products?

let us know your opinion or insights and let's start a conversation about certification and raw material quality at marketing@handymade.sk

Thanks to Ivana Jačalová for her helpful article.