Asahi Kasei Europe participated in joint project regarding ISCC PLUS
October 11, 2022
Asahi Kasei Corp.
Asahi Kasei's regional headquarters in Europe, Asahi Kasei Europe GmbH, participated in a joint project (Project) led by Circularise B.V. of the Netherlands and Marubeni Corporation of Japan regarding ISCC PLUS1, an international certification for sustainable products.
The Asahi Kasei Group aims to achieve a carbon neutral and sustainable world from the perspective of “Care for Earth,” and is advancing initiatives to use biomass material, recycled material, renewable energy, etc. Regarding the sustainable characteristics of products gained through such initiatives, certifications are being obtained in accordance with customers’ needs.
ISCC PLUS certification ensures the sustainable characteristics of final products to consumers by connecting mass balance management2 across the entire supply chain from raw materials, including biomass and recycled materials. As the sustainable characteristics of products are subject to increasing attention, there is a growing need for reliable certification which can be obtained efficiently. Asahi Kasei Europe's participation in the Project will contribute to achieving these objectives while deepening its understanding of certifications.
Ten companies in the chemical, trading, consumer-electronics fields, etc. across the entire supply chain, including Circularise B.V. and Asahi Kasei Europe, participated in the Project. Using a Circularise B.V. system to manage the mass balance of ISCC PLUS, the efficacy of traceability and conveying reliable sustainable characteristics to consumers was tested with each participating company entering data in accordance with the supply chain flow.
Each participating company shared both data for obtaining ISCC PLUS and for sustainability using a blockchain3 system of Circularise B.V. The Project confirmed that the blockchain technology ensured efficiency of the system as well as other aspects such as confidentiality of data throughout the entire supply chain, appropriateness of mass balance management, and reliability of non-rewritable data.
The Asahi Kasei Group considers it important to deal with the world's shared challenges such as carbon neutrality not only by itself, but also in concert with other companies, groups, etc. While further cooperating with other companies based on the results of the Project, the Asahi Kasei Group expects to meet the expectations of society and customers by advancing the provision of sustainable products and services in accordance with its medium-term management plan focused on the theme "Be a Trailblazer."
Akira Nishizawa, President of Asahi Kasei Europe, commented, “We aim to contribute to a sustainable society through our businesses. As we are a supplier of plastics, fibers, synthetic rubber, etc., the mass balance method of ISCC PLUS will be increasingly important as we advance our sustainability strategy. Currently many of our products are in the process of obtaining ISCC PLUS, but this is a laborious and time-consuming task. Our participation of the Project confirmed that an efficient process of obtaining a certification is essential to realize a sustainable society, while digital technology can play a significant role.”
Regarding the mass balance approach, please refer to our press releases below:
- https://www.asahi-kasei.com/news/2021/e211124.html
- https://www.asahi-kasei.com/news/2021/e220121.html
Information on the sustainability of the Asahi Kasei Group
- 1ISCC (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification) is an international certification system that offers solutions for the implementation and certification of waste and residue raw materials, non-bio renewables and recycled carbon materials and fuels. ISCC PLUS is a certification system that covers mainly bio-based carbon materials which are produced outside the EU and supplied globally, and to manage and ensure sustainable raw materials in the supply chain.
- 2In the case of a mixture of biomass raw materials, etc., and fossil fuel-derived raw materials in the production process, according to the amount of certain material (biomass material, etc.) input, the portion of the material is assigned to its whole characteristic, based on the management method ISCC PLUS system applies.
- 3A blockchain, also called a “distributed ledger,” is an irreversible database technology recording all history of data successively, where all relevant parties can access but cannot alter the data, which ensures traceability.