Sustainable palm oil
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (“RSPO”) is a non-governmental alliance that has developed a set of environmental and social criteria with which companies must comply in order to produce Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO). Properly applied, the RSPO criteria can help to minimise the negative impact of palm oil cultivation on the environment and communities in palm oil-producing regions.
The RSPO has more than 4,000 members drawn from all parts of the palm oil industry:
- Producers (such as M.P. Evans)
- Palm-oil processors
- Traders
- Consumer goods manufacturers
- Food retailers
- Financial institutions
- Environmental and social organisations.
In 2020, approximately 20% of world palm-oil production was certified sustainable. Less than half of this was bought as sustainably-produced oil.
M.P. Evans is a producer of sustainable Indonesian palm oil
All M.P. Evans’ palm-oil estates, whether they have a mill or not, are run in accordance with the RSPO’s standards. This is the same for all ‘scheme-smallholder’ areas attached to the Group’s projects. All the Group’s palm-oil mills are accredited as certified sustainable producers as soon as possible after commissioning, although it can take time to complete the necessary independent audit and approval checks.
Five of the Group’s six mills are certified against the RSPO Principles and Criteria, including one mill (Bumi Permai mill) certified under the identity preserved (IP) supply chain model. The Group is aiming to complete the RSPO audit and certification process at its sixth mill during 2024.
With the certification of the Group’s Musi Rawas estates in January 2024, the RSPO-certified area of our estates has grown to 36,667 hectares, representing 49% of the Group’s total concession area (including planted, plantable and unplantable area) and 74% of the Group’s total planted area. A further 66% of scheme smallholder land associated with the Group (12,429 hectares) is RSPO-certified and the Group has supported the certification of 2,288 hectares of land owned by independent smallholders.
Sustainability report
Read about our focus on the environment, sustainable palm-oil production and social impact.
