Arkema obtains certification for its advanced bio-based materials

Paris, France – Arkema’s corporate headquarters and its Marseille and Serquigny plants are now SuCCESS™ certified by independent certification bodies empaneled by the Sustainable Castor Association. Consequently, Arkema can offer advanced bio-circular polymers and oleochemical building blocks certified according to SuCCESS™, the world’s first sustainable castor code.

Having successfully completed the third party certification process administered by DNV Business Assurance Ltd, Arkema will now introduce a range of advanced Rilsan® polyamide 11 grades as well as a range of Oleris® oleochemicals that are certified to meet the criteria of the SuCCESS™ sustainable supply chain code.

Arkema has been a global pioneering innovator in advanced materials derived from renewable castor seeds grown primarily in Western India for many years. The castor crop grows well in marginal soil, is considered an inedible oil crop, and does not cause deforestation. The crop is also drought resistant, easy to grow, and easy to sell in open markets.

After completing a baseline study of 1,000 smallholder farmers in the region in 2016, Arkema and its partners BASF, Jayant Agro-Organics, and Solidaridad (a civil society organization) launched the Pragati project which established a foundation for the creation of the Sustainable Castor Association (www.castorsuccess.org) and the SuCCESS™ code (Sustainable Castor Caring for Environmental and Social Standards). Approximately 6,000 farmers have now been SuCCESS™ trained and certified by the Pragati implementation project so far, and some 13,300 hectares are now certified to be sustainably farmed.

Arkema will launch later this year, a new state-of-the-art bio-based materials plant in Singapore. The plant will use castor seed for 100% of its monomer, polymer, and oleochemical production.

Arkema’s advanced bio-circular materials are widely used in technical applications such as 3D printing, high performance footwear, lightweight automotive & industrial components, as well as medical and consumer electronics applications. Arkema’s Oleris® advanced bio-based oleochemical building blocks are traditionally used in cosmetics, fragrances & flavors, lubricants, construction, and pharmaceutical markets.

All of these products are valued for their renewable bio-origin, reduced carbon footprint and their positive social impacts among the farming community.