Foundation of ISCC Association

ISCC Association founded as carrier of the first certification system for the sustainability of biomass and bioenergy

On January 26, 2010 twenty companies and organizations have founded the ISCC Association which will be the controlling body of the ISCC certification system. The ISCC Association will take over the ISCC System GmbH, which runs the certification system.

About 70 representatives of companies and organizations from Europe, South America and South-East Asia joined the foundation meeting; most of them have been accompanying the development of ISCC as stakeholders. They are NGO’s, Certification Bodies, Associations and companies representing the entire supply chain, some of them being worldwide operating organizations. After the approval of the statutes 20 organizations or natural persons joined the Association. Several others have announced their joining in the near future.

In his introductory speech Mr. Clemens Neumann, MinDirig in the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV), talked about the importance of the event: “It is extremely important to support the sustainability of the production of feedstock and the conversion processes to obtain biofuels in order to contribute to the protection of climate and environment, and to increase the acceptance of bioenergy. This we have considered very early. And therefore the ISCC System has been developed and funded by the BMELV through the Agency for Renewable Resources (FNR). After two years of pilot studies now the normal operation starts – in a few weeks the first companies will be audited.”

Immediately after the inaugural act the first general meeting of members elected the board. The board is composed as follows:
For the group „Agriculture and Conversion“:
• Jesús López López, Abengoa, Sevilla, Spain
• R. Vasu Vasuthewan, Mission New Energy, Australia / Malaysia
For the group “Trade, Logistics and Users”:
• Stefan Schreiber, Cargill, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
• Dr. Klaus-Dieter Schumacher, Toepfer International, Hamburg, Germany (Chairman)
For the group „NGO’s, Social, Research and Others“:
• Martina Fleckenstein, WWF, Berlin, Germany (Dept. Chairman)
• Prof. Dr. Gernot Klepper, Institut für Weltwirtschaft, Kiel, Germany (Dept. Chairman)

The board held its first meeting the same day, and started its work on implementation, distribution and development of ISCC.

Furthermore a Technical Committee on Implementation of the Sustainability Ordinances in Europe was established. This committee’s chairpersons are Petra Sprick (OVID - Verband der ölsaatenverarbeitenden Industrie in Deutschland e.V.) and Elmar Baumann (Verband der Deutschen Biokraftstoffindustrie), deputies are Bernd Koelln (Bunge) and Klaus Henschel (Biopetrol). Eleven additional organizations, among them also Certification Bodies, have joined this Technical Committee so far. The Technical Committee is open for additional members.

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