Evonik has again substantially expanded its range of cosmetic ingredients certified in accordance with the standard of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO – MB). Customers in the cosmetics industry now have available more than 50 certified palm-oil based raw materials, including several specialties.

“That corresponds to about 40 percent of our sales volume for palm-oil based products,” explains Dr. Tammo Boinowitz, head of Evonik’s Personal Care Business Line. All of Evonik’s Personal Care products based on pure palm or palm-kernel oil are already certified in Europe under the segregated supply chain model (RSPO-SG). This was done despite the fact that supply of RSPO-certified palm-oil derivatives on the market still lags far behind demand.

“We want to support our customers in offering an increasing number of sustainable cosmetics products, in line with consumers’ wishes,” says Boinowitz. Evonik feels obligated to maintain high environmental and social standards.

Thanks to the introduction of the CAREtain system, which determines product-related sustainability parameters, these requirements are being taken into account already during the development phase. As a result, nearly 90 percent of Evonik’s Personal Care products are now based on sustainable raw materials, and more than 50 percent of these have been subjected to life cycle assessments. Over 80 percent of the products make a significant contribution to resource efficiency within the supply chain and during use.

The current RSPO-certified product range includes surfactants such as TEGO® Betain P 50 C, required in large quantities in, for example, shower gels and shampoos, as well as highly efficient emulsifiers like TEGO® CARE PBS 6, used in a large number of body and face creams.

As an RSPO member, Evonik has since 2010 advocated the use of sustainably produced palm-oil derivatives in cosmetics. To obtain oleochemical raw materials in the most socially acceptable manner possible, Evonik systematically monitors its suppliers using sustainability standards and strict criteria in relation to land grabbing and conservation of natural habitats. Evonik’s aim is to be able to monitor the supply chain down to the oil mill. Founding membership of TfS (Together for Sustainability) makes it easier for the company to take sustainability aspects into consideration during procurement: TfS has already reviewed about 7,000 suppliers, for example.

Evonik’s own production plants that process palm-oil derivatives for Personal Care are now all certified under the RSPO’s Mass Balance and Segregated supply chain models.