SBP launches biomass standards review

Certification scheme the Sustainable Biomass Programme (SBP) launched its standards development process yesterday, in which working groups will review and "where necessary" revise the scheme's requirements.

SBP-certified biomass accounted for a 61pc share of the EU-28 industrial wood pellet market, with 11.95mn t of biomass with SBP claims traded in 2019. There are now just over 270 SBP certificate holders, up from 210 at the end of 2019, SBP said.

As demand for SBP-certified biomass grows "we must be sure that our standards are fit for the future", SBP chief technical officer Simon Armstrong said.

"New markets for good biomass are emerging," and "new markets imply new challenges and new sourcing areas, and [SBP] standards will need to take this into consideration", Armstrong said.

SBP pointed towards Japan's growing biomass market. Japan imported 482,000t of wood pellets in the first quarter of 2020, up by 33pc on the year. SBP's first and only Japanese certificate holder, trading house Sumitomo, gained accreditation in 2019, and its first and only Asian wood pellet producer, Malaysia's Rainbow Pellets, followed in March 2020.

SBP expanded its geographical spread to cover 25 countries in 2019, after adding certificate holders in China, Japan and Turkey, but a large majority of the scheme's certificate holders are based in Europe and north America.

Since SBP's sustainability standards were first launched in 2015, the "external landscape… has not stood still", said Armstrong. "We must respond to the changing landscape and develop in line with best practice on topics such as forest carbon and biodiversity."

As part of the process, SBP's six standards will be reviewed and revised by working groups, and revisions will be passed to a technical committee, prior to approval from the standards committee, it said.

SBP estimates that the process for standards one and two, which focus on sustainability, may run until the end of 2021, while the remaining four standards — which encompass the chain of custody, data collection and accreditation — may conclude more quickly.

Revisions for standards one and two will be subject to a 60-day public consultation, while revision for standards three to six will face a 30-day such period. A transition period will be agreed for each revision, enabling SBP-accredited bodies and certificate holders to prepare for any changes.

By April Poore