(NCS International)  NCS International (“NCSI”) has certified the world’s first organisation against the Principles and Criteria of the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (“RSB”). RSB is a new international standard that can be applied across the entire biofuel supply chain, from farmer, processor to fuel blender and aims to ensure biofuels deliver the sustainability benefits promised.

Shoalhaven Starches Pty Ltd, part of the Manildra Group of Companies, successfully achieved certification through NCSI for its production facility at Bomaderry, NSW, Australia, which produces ethanol from waste starch from wheat processing.  The RSB Principles & Criteria for Sustainable Biofuel Production version 2 (RSB-STD-01-001) provides guidelines on best practices in the production and processing of biofuel feedstock and raw material, and for the production, use and transport of liquid biofuels.

According to the CEO of NCSI, Greg Jewson, “this is a significant achievement by Shoalhaven Starches to become the first company in the world to gain certification against the RSB requirements.”

“Our audit showed the management and staff demonstrated a strong commitment to the intent and implementation of the requirements of the RSB Systems and Standards.”

“Shoalhaven Starches have committed to the ongoing responsibilities of maintaining and improving their RSB system, we look forward to returning for the surveillance audit in 12 months to see how they have progressed.”

NCSI hope this is the first of a number of RSB certifications as other leading Australian processors and blenders seek to provide their customers and community stakeholders with the same level of assurance around sustainability benefits the RSB Systems and Standards require.

According to the Chairman of the Manildra Group of Companies, Dick Honan: “We are delighted with becoming the first company to achieve certification against the Principles and Criteria of the RSB.”

“We remain committed to ensuring we continuously improve our performance under the RSB Principles and Criteria,” said, Mr Honan.

Representing the Biofuels industry, the CEO of the Biofuels Association of Australia, Ms Heather Brodie remarked “This is a terrific outcome for the biofuel industry in Australia. It is very exciting that an Australian company is the first in the world to achieve this benchmark and it will provide impetus for other companies to do the same.”

The RSB assessment process considers a wide range of technical, social and environmental issues. We believe this provides a robust assessment of any organisation seeking certification to the standard.  One of the key areas within the principles and criteria deals with an assessment of the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions of the Shoalhaven Starches ethanol production facility. According to Mr Jewson, “this assessment was undertaken using data from production with consideration of RSB’s Standard RSB-STD-POL-01-001 V1.0 RSB Policy for certification of biofuels based on end of life products and wastewater.”

“The assessment determined that GHG Emissions from Shoalhaven Starches Biofuel operations were in compliance with the Criterion, which requires the company to contribute to climate change mitigation by significantly reducing lifecycle GHG emissions as compared to fossil fuels,” he said.  READ MORE