Dow has announced that it has obtained ISCC Plus certaification for five of its biggest manufacturing sites. The sites, located in Freeport, Texas (USA), Tarragona (Spain), Terneuzen (Netherlands), Boehlen (Germany) and Schkopau (Germany), successfully came through the stringent ISCC Plus audit process, comprised of a full independent, external audit to ensure product supply chains are fully traceable and that Dow and its suppliers are adhering to and accelerating sustainable practices.
ISCC is a globally applicable sustainability certification system covering all sustainable feedstocks, including circular feedstocks produced from plastic waste as well as bio-based, renewables sourced from agriculture and forestry biomass or waste products. The certification recognises Dow’s implementation of environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable production requirements.
“This third-party validation is a critical step in our sustainability journey to design and produce fully circular products,” said Nestor de Mattos, North America commercial vice president for Packaging & Specialty Plastics. It verifies Dow’s continued effort to address both issues and reaffirms the success of Dow’s mass balance approach in producing sustainable plastic using both plastic waste-based circular feedstocks and bio-based feedstocks.
Each of the five Dow sites audited by ISCC have been awarded the PLUS certification as the result of different innovations that are helping to contribute toward more sustainable systems. The circular plastics produced at the Freeport location can be used to develop flexible food packaging made from mono-material polyethylene. At the Terneuzen site, its crackers and all PE trains have been recognised, while Tarragona has been certified on its cracker, octene plant and polymerization plants. At Boehlen both its cracker and storage in Rostock and Teutschenthal have been certified, while the Schkopau site received accreditation for its plant that produces Dowlex Polyethylene Resins.
These certifications are a mark of Dow’s progress towards fulfilling its sustainability goals. These include enabling 1 million metric tons of plastic to be collected, reused, or recycled by 2030, and to close the loop on plastic waste by enabling 100% of Dow products sold into packaging applications to be reusable or recyclable by 2035.
Future ISCC certifications will be announced in due course for other sites across the world.