The biomass used for the production of biofuels must be produced sustainably. This means that the production of biomass/biofuels must follow the best environmental practices, social and economic.
Areas that have high biodiversity value or rich in carbon, that serve to protect endangered or vulnerable species, or which are of ecological importance, cultural or customary use rights need to be protected and must not be degraded and/or impacted for the production of biomass/biofuels.
The purpose of the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) is to contribute to the sustainable cultivation, processing and use of different types of biomass and its products. Consequently, certification contributes to the reduction of environmental impacts, a more efficient use of resources and a growing capacity for climate change adaptation and climate mitigation and resilience.
Certification follows a “Supply Chain” structure (supply chain), that covers all the processes that a product goes through, from the origin of the raw materials to delivery to the final consumer. The supply chain includes raw materials from the agricultural stage and agricultural crop residues, from the farm/plantation, going through industrial processing in different units, storage, refinement, until reaching the brand owner and/or final consumer.
In addition to socio-environmental issues, all elements in the supply chain that generate, that process or sell sustainable material must present certification according to the applicable standards for Chain of Custody/Traceability control.
There are two certification options:
ISCC EU
ISCC EU certification meets compliance standards with regard to environmental criteria, social and traceability, and qualifies biofuel or biomass companies for legal recognition of the targets set by European regulations for biofuels used for transport.
Any type of biomass-based fuel is eligible for ISCC EU certification. ISCC recognizes all EU RED approved biomass certifications (Renewable Energy Directive- Renewable Energy Directive), which provides greater flexibility for biofuels traders.
To get certified, the biofuel must: demonstrate reduction of your carbon footprint, meet minimum social criteria, environmental and traceability, must not be produced in areas of high biodiversity value or carbon rich and adhere to international fair labor practices.
ISCC EU provides access to the European market for non-fossil materials and energy sources. Furthermore, enables third-party verification of a company's commitment to limiting environmental impacts.
The document 202-1 of the ISCC EU System “Agricultural biomass: Principle 1 do ISCC” covers the legal requirements of articles 29(2), 29(3), 29(4) e 29(5) of the Directive (EU) 2018/2001, from 11 december 2018, on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (reformulated) (in the following terms RED II), as well as the additional requirements regarding the definition of criteria and geographic ranges of pastures with a high level of biodiversity, as defined by Commission Regulation (EU) n. º 1307/2014 from 8 december 2014.
These requirements are included in the Principle 1 do ISCC, specifying areas that are excluded from any kind of biomass production and areas that can only be used for biomass production if their status does not change or if restrictions are followed.
ISCC PLUS
ISCC PLUS is a certification for all markets and sectors not regulated by the EU RED II system, such as food markets, feed or energy and for various industrial applications, in order to guarantee your sustainability requirements from the raw material to the finished product.
No. ISCC PLUS, all types of agricultural and forestry raw materials, waste and waste, non-biorenewable energies and recycled carbon materials and fuels are covered.
The objective is for the sustainability standard to become a legal requirement in the human and animal food market from raw materials and intermediate and final products.
Since the ISCC PLUS and ISCC EU certification systems are largely harmonized, ISCC EU System Documents generally apply to ISCC PLUS.
However, there are some differences between ISCC EU and ISCC PLUS requirements., especially with regard to traceability, chain of custody and calculation of GHG emissions.
The ISCC EU System Documents set out the general system of ISCC principles that are (in addition to the different requirements specified in the document) also valid in the scope of ISCC PLUS. These documents can be found on the ISCC website in their currently valid version..
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