RSB Guidance: RG-2015-01-Updated Guidance on Palm Glycerin

On 27 June 2013, the RSB Board of Directors approved the Secretariat’s
recommendation that palm glycerin, a by-product from processing, should be approved as a waste and residue. Palm glycerin is not mentioned at all in the RSB Standard for certification of biofuels based on end-of-life-products, by-products and residues (RSB-STD-01-020), so the Secretariat recommended that the Economic Value Ratio method be used, which indicate that the EVR for palm glycerin would be below 1%, so it can be considered a waste and residue on economic criteria. A further recommendation, also approved, was that operators using palm glycerin should establish a phase-in plan to increase the supply from
RSPO certified palm oil over time.
Since 2013, the prices of all wastes and residues suitable for biofuel production have risen, mainly due to extra incentives applied in the European Union, for waste derived biofuels. This situation applies to glycerin. It is a double counting feedstock in some Member States, including the UK.