BASF, The Estée Lauder Companies, RSPO to Partner with Solidaridad on Sustainability Project for Palm Derivatives

German chemical company BASF, personal care manufacturer The Estée Lauder Companies and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) are partnering with the civil society organisation Solidaridad to launch a sustainability project for palm oil and palm derivatives production in Lampung, Indonesia, the Oils & Fats International reported on June 06.  BASF said last month that the project would support Indonesian smallholder farmers to improve their sustainable production of palm oil and palm kernel oil by offering education and technical support on implementing and maintaining sustainable palm oil practices. The programme encompassed 1,000 independent Indonesian smallholder farmers. 

The project’s target was to ultimately certify according to RSPO’s smallholder standard at least one third of supported smallholder farmers at the end of three years. The partners were collaborating with the Indonesian government to foster a sustainable palm oil production supply chain in the Lampung province that would also be competitive in the global market, while increasing social and economic benefits for farmers. “The partnership with Estée Lauder, Solidaridad and RSPO enables us to support these farmers and, at the same time, increase the availability of sustainably-produced palm oil,” said Daniele Piergentili, vice president, Home and Personal Care at BASF in North America.