More efficient certification
Blockchain system tested to complement ISCC PLUS
For the first time, ten companies from the chemical industry – including Covestro – and downstream sectors have tested a blockchain system from Circularise to complete the ISCC PLUS certification. In the successful test, the partners were able to show that this can improve mass balancing and transparency along value chains.
Mass balance and transparency can also be improved for polycarbonate headlights thanks to ISCC PLUS certification. © Covestro
For the first time, ten companies from the chemical industry and downstream sectors cooperated to test such a digital system intended to bridge the gap between companies in the process of sustainability certification across complex value chains.
Circularise’s blockchain-based digital system has been tested with ISCC PLUS certification to make auditing of certified partners more efficient and strengthen the integrity of certified data. Participants used a public blockchain that enables data authentication, access, decentralization and encryption to verify material flows and associated sustainability attributes. “We are pleased to offer our knowledge of supply chain traceability and data management to project partners to test a decentralized public blockchain with ISCC PLUS certification,” said Mesbah Sabur, Founder of Circularise.
The traceability of materials and the verification of data on each site and throughout the value chain are guaranteed by the ISCC PLUS certification of each operator site. Company specific audits, certifications and mass balance calculations were required to provide assurance of more sustainable content. The data was uploaded to Circularise’s software system to improve accounting and mass balance reporting across the value chain by several companies.
“Certification will become more digital in the future. This will allow certification schemes to simplify the process of auditing supply chain actors and reduce the risk of errors. Companies will be able to demonstrate compliance more easily,” says ISCC’s Jan Henke. “We are delighted to have been able to test the Circularise traceability software with the ISCC procedures.
Digitized ISCC certification
© Circularize
Covestro joined the ISCC pilot project to find out how the company could more effectively share its sustainability information with its downstream partners.
“In other Circularise pilot projects, such as with Porsche, we could easily submit raw sustainability data, but we had not looked at sustainability certifications. In the ISCC pilot project, we have now shown how we can easily apply certifications that can be transmitted digitally throughout the value chain, from Covestro to our downstream partners and finally to OEMs and beyond,” says John Fox of Digital R&D at Covestro.
Covestro sees a growing demand from customers and partners for a digital certification system that can be used to validate material sustainability claims using a system such as ISCC.
Mass balancing is an evolving concept that is not yet fully understood on the consumer side. To further promote the ISCC and the whole mass accounting approach in the value chain, providing certified digital information through a simple and compatible system can give downstream partners a simpler and more recognized tool to communicate and share sustainability attributes externally – up to consumers.