OREANDA-NEWS. December 25, 2013. Neste Oil has achieved its long-term target of using only certified palm oil as an input for its renewable diesel production process.

The original target, set in 2009, was that 100% of the raw palm oil used would be certified by the end of 2015, but thanks to a major effort this target has been achieved two years early, in 2013. All the renewable inputs used by Neste Oil have been traced back to the plantations and production sites from which they come since the company began producing renewable diesel in 2007.

"We are very satisfied that our systematic work to ensure the sustainability of palm oil usage is bearing fruit in this way," says Simo Honkanen, Neste OIl's Senior Vice President, Sustainability and HSSE. "Neste Oil has been an industry pioneer in this area and the sustainability criteria and traceability practices that it has developed and implemented have the potential to serve as models for other industries. This achievement will give us a good foundation for further developing the sustainability of our supply chain."

Certification verifies that the sustainability criteria set for biofuels are met throughout the supply chain. Neste Oil requires all its palm oil suppliers to be members of the RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil). The palm oil used by Neste Oil is certified in accordance with the international certification systems approved under EU legislation, such as ISCC and RSPO-RED. These systems define what constitutes sustainable operations and the criteria used for determining sustainability, together with the documentation required for a sustainable supply chain. An independent third-party body is responsible for auditing Neste Oil's certified palm oil producers annually.

Sustainable palm oil production helps protect biodiversity and carbon reserves. It also prevents the destruction of rainforest and plantations being established in sensitive areas, such as carbon-rich wetlands. Sustainable production principles also require people's human rights and the rights of indigenous peoples to be respected.

Palm oil is one of the more than 10 different types of vegetable oil and waste and residues that Neste Oil uses to produce NExBTL renewable diesel. Waste and residues currently account for around half of the renewable inputs used by Neste Oil, while certified palm oil accounts for around the other half.