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ISCC PLUS

SIG Terra Forest-based polymers packaging material uses tall oil as a feedstock. Tall oil is a by-product of the paper industry, rather than a crop grown on agricultural land that could otherwise be used for food. SIG Terra Circular polymers packaging material uses post-consumer recycled plastics. Both polymers used by SIG are sourced via a mass-balance system with ISCC PLUS certification. 

What is the ISCC PLUS certification scheme?

Founded in 2010 through a multi-stakeholder initiative, the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) is a globally applicable and leading certification system designed to enhance traceable, sustainable, deforestation-free, and climate-friendly supply chains.

 

ISCC certifications are widely recognized and cover sustainable agricultural biomass, biogenic wastes and residues, non-biological renewable materials and recycled carbon-based materials. The development and implementation of different certification standards is ISCC’s tool to promote its mission to mitigate climate change and bring more traceability into global markets and supply chains.  

 

 

The ISCC PLUS standard, in particular, supports the transition to a circular economy and bioeconomy. ISCC PLUS (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification PLUS) is a voluntary global certification system. It tracks and verifies bio-based, circular, and renewable raw materials across supply chains outside of regulated biofuel markets. It covers sectors like food, feed, chemicals, and plastics. 

 

Core sustainability principles for forest sourcing areas: 

  • Principle 1: Harvesting criteria and land-use, land-use change (LUC) and forestry (LULUCF) criteria  

  • Principle 2: Environmentally responsible production to protect soil, water and air  

  • Principle 3: Safe working conditions  

  • Principle 4: Compliance with human, labour and land rights  

  • Principle 5: Compliance with laws and international treaties 

  • Principle 6: Good management practices and continuous improvement

The detailed requirements are defined in the System Documents (in English language only) ISCC EU 202-3 – Forest Biomass: ISCC Principle 1, and ISCC EU 202-4 – Forest Biomass: ISCC Principles 2-6 in the ISCC documents library.

ISCC PLUS (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification Plus) is a voluntary global certification system. It tracks and verifies bio-based, circular, and renewable raw materials across supply chains outside of regulated biofuel markets. It covers sectors like food, feed, chemicals, and plastics.

Mass Balance explained by ISCC

Most products we hold in our hands, consume and dispose of are the result of complex chemical manufacturing processes that combine a variety of different materials. The input ranges from distinct fossil-based to emerging non-conventional feedstock that include bio-based, renewable and recycled materials and can substitute fossil-based resources. While we see more products claiming 100% bio-based or recycled content on the market, the volume of fossil-based materials continues to surpass the amount of more sustainable alternatives in other applications. Still, they are gradually becoming substituted by less carbon-intense and sustainable alternatives. For a good reason. 

The rationale behind mass balance 

In chemical production processes, input materials of different origins and characteristics, such as certified renewable materials and fossil feedstocks, are often mixed. That is particularly the case in industries with assets with complex manufacturing processes where certified and non-certified materials cannot be processed in separate production lines. 

 

Mixing inputs requires companies to state the share of certified materials incorporated in the end product. Unfortunately, the amount of certified materials entering the chemical process is still low and so is its physical share in the finished product. This leaves little room for incentives to increase the use of certified feedstocks. Fortunately, mass balance can help.  

 

Mass balance provides manufacturers with a methodology to track the certified materials as they move along the value chain and attribute the inputs of a production process, like certified recycled plastic, to outputs of that production process through certified bookkeeping. Although the material’s physical features are mixed and cannot be told apart within the mix anymore, their sustainability and GHG emission data remain assigned to the batches of materials in the bookkeeping.  

 

This distinct accounting method verifies that the certified feedstock has replaced an equivalent quantity of fossil raw materials at the beginning of the supply chain and can be attributed to the product-to-be-sold, ensuring that both input and output are balanced. 

Mass balance in practice 

Let’s take an example to see how mass balance works. Imagine 70% of fossil-based (700 kg) and 30% (300 kg) of certified renewable feedstock are mixed in a processing unit. The operator of the processing unit conducts the first mass-balance, deduces processes losses, and supplies a certain volume of the mixture to a polyolefin producer. Although the polyolefin producer receives mass-balanced materials, it is not guaranteed that the certified renewable materials attributed to his batch are “physically” there. However, the polyolefin manufacturer attributes the certified feedstock to his outputs in the bookkeeping. In the next processing step, a converter turns the mass-balanced materials into one metric ton of finished goods.

 

Considering processes losses of 10%, for instance, the converter could claim 270 kg of the output as linked to 100% certified renewable feedstock based on the mass balance approach. Alternatively, 540 kg of output could be claimed as linked to 50% certified materials. We cannot say for certain that the finished good in our hands physically contains certified recycled content. What is evident is that the certified input has substituted fossil resources at the beginning of the supply chain and contributed to bringing more circularity to the process. 

Mass balance benefits at a glance 

Mass balance comes with a myriad of advantages that benefit all participants across the value chain and boosts the use of bio-based, residues and recycled materials. First and foremost, it helps gradually leverage non-conventional feedstock in existing infrastructures and supply chains. Chemical companies aiming to incorporate non-conventional feedstock into their products can flexibly feed the desired volumes into their processes and keep the different feedstock separate through detailed accounting. This makes investment in new infrastructure or the building of entirely new production lines redundant, increases incentives to incorporate non-conventional feedstock and enables large-scale operations to transition to more sustainable operations.  

 

One of the concept’s core tasks is tracing materials through the supply chain and multiple processing steps to bring greater transparency to global supply chains. Moreover, the concept finds widespread use as complementary concept in chemical plastic recycling processes. When mechanical recycling reaches its limits in plastic recycling, chemical recycling is the complementary go-to-process to prevent a loss of recyclable materials. It enables the recycling of hard-to-recycle products and brings high-quality recyclates, including those suitable for food-contact applications, back into the economy. Employing the mass balance approach, companies downstream chemical recycling are given a means to increase recycling rates, verify the use of certified recycled content and thereby meet recycled content targets.

The Role of the certification

Certifications take on an imperative role in supply chain traceability and leveraging the use of non-conventional raw materials. 

ISCC, as one of the leading multi-stakeholder sustainability and carbon certification systems, certifies various non-conventional feedstocks, bio-based, bio-based process residues, mechanical and chemical recycling processes and different chain of custody options based on the standards set out in its ISCC PLUS system. 

 

As it stands, it is a system of choice in non-regulated markets, but is expected to find application in distinct regulated markets and will undergo further development based on global market trends. Providing full transparency along the value chain, it allows brand owners to make credible claims about their product’s contribution to the circular or bioeconomy. 

 

 

 

A key lever for circularity 

Mass balance is an enabler for transitioning to a bio- and circular economy. As a cost-efficient solution, it is a means to scale up the volumes of recycled, bio-based and bio-based residue materials used alongside fossil feedstock and to gradually phase out primary resource use in chemical production processes. If applied widely, mass balance can be a key lever to accelerate the substitution of fossil raw materials and scale-up recycling within existing infrastructures.