BASF achieved its 2020 Palm Commitment

March 4, 2021

BASF reached an important milestone on its path toward sustainable palm. The company achieved its commitment to procure palm (kernel) oils exclusively from sources certified by the RSPO by 2020.

Last year, BASF purchased 227,213 metric tons of certified sustainable palm (kernel) oil representing 100 percent of BASF’s total volume as RSPO certified. In addition, BASF also made further progress in developing transparent supply chains: The company was able to trace almost 95 percent of its global palm footprint – totaling 441,107 metric tons – back to oil mill level. Additionally, as in previous years, BASF published its product carbon footprint (PCF) for sourcing certified sustainable palm (kernel) oil. Compared to conventional sourcing, BASF avoided more than 300,000 metric tons of CO₂ emission in 2020. RSPO-certified production of palm kernel oil shows around 36 percent lower global warming impact than non-certified production. The PCF is calculated according to the requirements and guidelines for quantification as stated in ISO “14067:2018-08 – Greenhouse gases – Carbon footprint of products”.

Further commitment

While having reached this important milestone, BASF is now fully focused on the other part of its 2015 commitment: to also include the commitment of certified sourcing to those significant intermediates which are based on palm oil and palm kernel oil by 2025, e.g. fatty alcohols and fatty acids. Palm kernel oil and its primary derivatives are amongst BASF’s key renewable raw materials. They are mainly used to produce ingredients for the cosmetics, detergent and cleaner industries, as well as in human nutrition. The progress can be discovered in detail at the company's Palm Dialog website.