As a truly multistakeholder initiative, ISCC brings together voices from across global supply chains, different industries, and independent experts. This diversity keeps our certification systems credible, practical, and relevant as markets and technologies change.
Over the 15+ years since ISCC’s founding, we have built a system on a collaborative approach. That approach came into clear focus during the development of the new Standalone ISCC PLUS System Documents, which we finalised after a public consultation in late 2025.
What Are ISCC System Documents – And Why Do They Matter?
ISCC’s System Documents serve as the “instruction manual” for how certification works in practice. They outline the requirements companies must meet, how auditors verify compliance, and the rules governing traceability and the chain of custody.
For years, our flagship voluntary certification scheme, ISCC PLUS, has shared several system components with ISCC EU, which is designed around EU legislation. As ISCC PLUS grew into new markets, technologies, and supply chains, this shared structure became increasingly complex.
That’s why we introduced standalone System Documents for ISCC PLUS: to give the scheme the clarity and independence it needs as it supports a rapidly expanding and diversifying global user base.
Why Now? Growth, Diversity, and the Need for Clarity
The move toward standalone ISCC PLUS documents reflects three major developments:
- A fast-growing and diversifying user base: ISCC PLUS now supports companies across many sectors, from chemicals and packaging to textiles and recycling. This expansion brings new technologies, supply-chain models, and expectations.
- A clearer separation between regulatory and voluntary frameworks: ISCC EU must update in line with EU regulatory cycles. Over time, those dependencies created unnecessary complexity for ISCC PLUS. Giving ISCC PLUS its own System Documents allows both schemes to evolve more effectively.
Integration of new supply chain models and technologies: As markets innovate, our requirements must keep pace. Standalone documents allow for more agile updates.
How Public Consultation Shaped the Standalone ISCC PLUS System Documents
When we released the draft Standalone ISCC PLUS System Documents for public consultation, we invited feedback from across our community. And the community responded.
Who took part?
- System Users and Brand Owners across the entire value chain
- Many stakeholders from the global recycling sector
- Certification Bodies and auditors
- Contributors from regions around the world
This broad participation is exactly why a multistakeholder approach works. It adds valuable voices to the discussion, straight from the crucial beginning of the creation process.
What we heard
The feedback covered more than 100 individual comments. Much of it was positive, welcoming the standalone structure and the clearer direction for ISCC PLUS. Several detailed insights came from practitioners who work with these requirements every day. These included:
- The level of detail around traceability
- Expectations for chain of custody models
- alignment with ISO13662 Chain of Custody – Mass Balance
- Requests for clearer, more practical guidance
How We Evaluated the Feedback
The ISCC PLUS team reviewed every comment, over a hundred in total. We grouped them into themes, discussed them internally, and assessed each one carefully:
- Should the suggestion be incorporated now?
- Should it be considered but saved for a future revision?
- Does it highlight a need for clearer explanation or examples?
This process directly shaped the evolution from ISCC PLUS v1.0 to v1.1 and we are proud to share that many improvements were made thanks to stakeholder input.
What This Process Achieved
The multistakeholder approach, and in this case, public consultations, make our system more transparent, more practical, and more adaptive.
Throughout the process, requirements were strengthened or clarified to better reflect real-world conditions, particularly with input from auditors and companies helping to ensure that the new requirements will work on the ground, where they will apply on a day-to-day basis.
Behind the Scenes: A Look into the Collaboration Process
We worked through many channels:
- Mass Balance Working Group: Key topics were discussed early on with experts.
- Day-to-day inquiries: Frequent questions from System Users helped us identify where guidance needed to be clearer.
- Certification Bodies and auditors: Their frontline experience is invaluable; they see how requirements play out in practice.
- One-to-one exchanges: When feedback raised deeper questions, we followed up directly.
This mix of structured and informal feedback is what keeps ISCC’s requirements grounded in reality.
Why a Multistakeholder Model Matters
This case study highlights what makes ISCC different in the certification landscape.
It ensures that our System Documents reflect the realities of different industries and markets, regions, and technologies. It ensures that companies using ISCC know they are part of a scheme shaped by their peers, and the wider community. And it ensures that ISCC continues to evolve responsibly as sustainability challenges become more complex.
The Standalone ISCC PLUS System Documents go beyond a technical update. They are a result of shared knowledge and effort to build a certification system that is robust, fair, and ready for the future.
We would once again like to thank everyone who participated in this and all ISCC public consultations. Your feedback and input are fundamental to the evolution of our system.