Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

We herewith inform you about updates in the ISCC System. Please share this information with all relevant members of staff.

1. Update on Ukraine, Russia and Belarus

ISCC continues to monitor the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russia with great concern and sadness. The situation was also discussed with the board of the ISCC association (ISCC e.V.) which represents the multi-stakeholder body responsible for governing ISCC. The board of the ISCC association has voted that ISCC shall implement the following measures to react to the ongoing situation:

1. ISCC suspends the registration for companies from Russia and Belarus. This means, that no new clients from both countries will be able to register with ISCC to become ISCC certified.
2. ISCC suspends the (re-)certification for all existing ISCC system users from Russia and Belarus until ISCC receives further guidance on how to deal with the situation from the European Commission. This means that certification bodies will not be able to issue new certificates for ISCC system users in Russia and Belarus.

Both measures shall come into force with immediate effect and apply until further notice by ISCC. As the situation in Ukraine evolves, ISCC will reassess this position and will communicate any updates in due time. Our thoughts remain with those affected by this war and we continue to hope for a peaceful resolution as soon as possible.

2. ISCC PLUS Training – Circular Economy and Bioeconomy

The next ISCC PLUS Training – Circular Economy and Bioeconomy will take place from 27 – 28 April 2022 in the form of an online training course. As we now count more than 1,700 valid ISCC PLUS certificates and the number is constantly increasing, the demand for ISCC PLUS auditors is also expanding rapidly. We highly recommend all certification bodies to train their auditors in the ISCC PLUS Training to continuously meet the demand in the market – there are still places left for the next training. Participation in the ISCC PLUS Training is mandatory for all ISCC PLUS auditors.

The 1.5-day ISCC PLUS Training covers in detail the certification of diverse supply chains, chain of custody options, mass balance and attribution options in the chemical and downstream industry, logos and claims, as well as the verification and audit processes for a successful certification. The training provides practical examples and case studies to allow an applied learning. ISCC experts will be available throughout the training for individual discussion.

You can find further information and register for the training on our website.

3. ISCC CO2 Certification Approach

ISCC receives requests on the options to certify CO2 as a raw material under ISCC PLUS. Therefore, we would like to draw your attention again to the currently possible ISCC PLUS raw material categories (please see ISCC PLUS System Document, chapter 5.3) and the potential integration of CO2 into certification setups.

Please note that the use of captured fossil CO2 in a production process is not necessarily sufficient to make claims related to “circular”. This is in particular the case for reactions of the fossil CO2 with other process inputs which contain the energy to drive the process (e.g. hydrogen) if these other process inputs also come from fossil sources. If it can be verified that the energy to produce these other process inputs comes from renewable sources, certification and claims under ISCC PLUS are generally possible.

ISCC will provide further specifications in the next System Document update – until this is published, the ISCC head office shall be contacted prior to any ISCC PLUS certification of CO2 with a detailed description of the setup including the type of energy used.

4. ISCC Corporate Logo – Download on the ISCC Website

From now on, the use of the ISCC corporate logo („off-product logo”) is not subject to approval anymore.

The ISCC corporate logo is now available for download in the client section of the ISCC website (login required). The ISCC corporate logo can be used off-product, e.g. on marketing materials, websites, sustainability reports, sustainability declarations, corporate materials and in email signatures. It must not be used on final ISCC certified products or packaging materials for end consumers. In addition, the ISCC corporate logo must not be placed on invoices, ‘GHG certificates’, delivery documents (other than SDs) or any attestations that the ISCC certified company issues autonomously to its suppliers or clients. It will also not be provided for use on business cards. Please note that all requirements in the ISCC Document 208 “Logos and Claims” must be met and it shall only be used as long as a valid certificate or license is in place.

All on-product communication and the use of the ISCC on-product logos for end consumer products must be pre-approved by ISCC. To receive the approval, please use this form on the ISCC website.

5. Low LUC Risk Certification under ISCC CORSIA

Since November 2020, the ISCC CORSIA standard has been recognised for the certification of sustainable aviation fuels under the global CORSIA scheme. CORSIA also allows for the certification of feedstocks with a low risk for land use change (LUC).

The requirements for low LUC risk certification under ISCC CORSIA are described in the ISCC CORSIA System Document 205 “Life Cycle Emissions”. To facilitate practical application, ISCC has prepared a guidance document for low LUC risk certification under ISCC CORSIA. This document is intended to complement the ISCC CORSIA System Document 205 and provide additional guidance on eligible low LUC risk practices, their verification as well as on the general low LUC risk certification process under ISCC CORSIA. The guidance document incorporates the learnings and recommendations from different ISCC-led pilot projects conducted over the past year, for different world regions, crop types as well as agricultural systems. The guidance document can be publicly accessed here.

6. Use of RED II Default Values for Manure

After consultation with the European Commission, ISCC would like to clarify that RED II default GHG values for biogas/biomethane from “wet manure” can also be applied for biogas/biomethane from “dry manure”.

7. Updates on ISCC Documents

ISCC EU Proof of Sustainability

The template of the ISCC EU Proof of Sustainability (login required) has been updated (v.2.3). The update refers to the type of products that can be selected from the template. The drop down menu now includes the range of co-processed oils to be used for the replacement of diesel, marine fuel, naphtha, petrol, jet fuel, LPG and diesel/petrol, as well as jet fuel produced from biomethane. With this update, the template is further aligned with the ISCC EU material list.

ISCC PLUS Sustainability Declaration

In accordance with the latest feedback that ISCC received from stakeholders, the ISCC PLUS Sustainability Declaration template (login required) has been updated for improved usage. The latest version (v3.3) now contains the following information/changes:

• Possibility to add the physical dispatch/shipping point and receipt/receiving point of the sustainable material if different from address of supplier/recipient
• Possibility to add the total quantity of the delivery (certified and non-certified material)
• Type of recycling operations and waste status is only mandatory for circular materials
• For material with the GHG add-on: GHG elements can now be forwarded separately (voluntary)

ISCC PLUS Material List

The following raw materials were added:

• Grapes
• Mine gas
• Peas
• Silicon dioxide (circular), Additional information: The silicon dioxide must come from biogenic sources, e.g. from the ash of biogenic materials like rice husks

The following intermediates and final products were added or adjusted:

• Acetonitrile
• Acryloyloxyethyltrimethylammonium chloride
• Adipic acid
• Aromatic hydrocarbon (specification of aromatic hydrocarbon), Additional information: The number of carbon atoms must be specified in brackets (e.g. aromatic hydrocarbons (C6) or aromatic hydrocarbons (C9-C10))
• Bitumen, additional information: Only the actual share of ISCC certified sustainable input may be claimed as sustainable.
• Crude C5
• Cyclohexanol
• Cyclohexanone
• Cyclohexanone / cyclohexanol mixture
• Dialkylamine (specification of dialkylamine), additional information: The type of dialkylamine must be specified in brackets (e.g. dialkylamine (dimethylamine))
• Dihydroxybenzols (specification of dihydroxybenzol), additional information: The type of dihydroxybenzol must be specified in brackets (e.g. dihydroxybenzols (hydroquinone))
• Ethylenebis(stearamide) (EBS)
• Food glaze (input material), additional information: The type of sustainable input must be specified in brackets (e.g. food glaze (sunflower oil))
• Hexyldecanol
• Hydroxytoluols / cresols (specification of hydroxytoluol), additional information: The type of hydroxytoluol must be specified in brackets (e.g. hydroxytoluols / cresols (meta cresol))
• Isononyl alcohol
• Isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI)
• Octyldodecanol
• PE (specification of PE), additional information: Polyethylene, can be further specified (e.g. biaxially oriented polyethylene (BOPE), PE (PE wax))
• Pentaerythritol tetrapentanoate
• Phthalate esters (specification of type), additional information: The type of phthalate ester must be specified in brackets (e.g. phthalate esters (PBT), phthalate esters (PET),  phthalate esters (PETG) or phthalate esters (BHET)
• Polyamine (specification of polyamine), additional information: The type of polyamine must be specified (e.g. polyamine (epichlorohydrine-dimethylamine))
• Polyether polyol (specification of polyether polyol), additional information: The type of polyether polyol must be specified (Polyether polyol (propoxylated glycerol)
• Polyphenylene sulfide (PPS)
• PP (specification of PP), Additional information: Polypropylene (recycling code 5), can be further specified (e.g. cast polypropylene (CPP), biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP), orientied polypropylene (OPP), PP (PP wax))
• Pyrolysis ash, additional information: Non-carbon part of solid pyrolysis co-products
• Stearic acid
• Stearic acid salts (specification of stearic acid salt), additional information: The type of stearic acid salt must be specified (e.g. stearic acid salt (calcium stearate)). Only the part of the salt originating from certified stearic acid can be claimed as certified.
• Terpenes (specification of terpene), additional information: Specification according to the type of terpenes can be provided (e.g. terpenes (pinene)). This entry can also be used for terpenic resins. In this case a specification of the terpenes, on which the resin is based, can be provided.
• Vinyl acetate monomer (VAM)

In addition, ISCC would like to clarify that all raw materials, intermediates and final products listed on the ISCC CORSIA materials list may also be certified under ISCC PLUS.

The current version of the ISCC PLUS list of materials (as of 23 March 2022) is available here in the client section of the ISCC website (login required).