5 Dow sites receive ISCC Plus certification

Dow, a materials science company based in Midland, Michigan, has announced that five of its largest manufacturing sites have received International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC) Plus recognition for their compliance with tracking of sustainable feedstocks use. Sites certified include Freeport, Texas; Tarragona, Spain; Terneuzen, the Netherlands; Boehlen, Germany; and Schkopau, Germany.

ISCC is a globally applicable sustainability certification system that covers all sustainable feedstocks, including circular feedstocks produced from plastic scrap as well as biobased renewables sourced from agriculture and forestry biomass or waste products. According to a news release from Dow, this certification recognizes the company’s implementation of environmentally, socially and economically sustainable production requirements, which was awarded following an independent, external audit to ensure product supply chains are fully traceable and that Dow and its suppliers adhere to and accelerate sustainable practices.

“This third-party validation is a critical step in our sustainability journey to design and produce fully circular products,” says Nestor de Mattos, North America commercial vice president for Packaging & Specialty Plastics at Dow. “Our intent is to help our customers reach their circularity targets by providing 100 percent recyclable solutions and offering products made with recycled content.”

According to Dow, each of the five sites audited by ISCC have been awarded the Plus certification as a result of different innovations that are helping to contribute toward more sustainable systems. The circular plastics produced at the Freeport location can be used to develop flexible food packaging made from monomaterial polyethylene (PE). At the Terneuzen site, its crackers and all PE trains have been recognized, while Tarragona has been certified on its cracker, octene plant and polymerization plants. At Boehlen, both its cracker and storage in Rostock and Teutschenthal have been certified, while the Schkopau site received accreditation for its plant that produces Dowlex polyethylene resins.

“We continue to safely and systematically leverage the industry-leading feedstock flexibility of our crackers to deliver what our downstream customers value,” says Keith Cleason, vice president of the Olefins, Aromatics and Alternatives business at Dow. “ISCC Plus certification enables us to trace with precision the amount of ethylene produced with sustainable feedstocks as we drive conversion and emission efficiencies to further differentiate the footprint of our operations and to supply value-added sustainable products to our customers.”

Dow says these certifications will help the company to meet its sustainability goals, including reaching a target to stop waste by enabling 1 million metric tons of plastic scrap to be collected, reused or recycled by 2030 and to close the loop on plastic scrap by enabling 100 percent of Dow products sold into packaging applications to be reusable or recyclable by 2035.