Some of our oleochemical products are based on soybean oil. Soy production has grown steadily in recent decades. This is mainly driven by our increased meat consumption and the resulting higher demand for protein-rich animal feed in the form of soybean meal. Precious rainforest is being cut down to meet this demand. The conversion of forest areas releases immense amounts of greenhouse gases. The reduction in forest cover also means that less CO2 is stored. As a manufacturer of specialty chemicals, it is important to us that a raw material is renewable and has a low CO2 footprint.
HOBUM works with soybean oil suppliers who have long been part of the 'Amazon Soy Moratorium'. This is an agreement signed in 2006 to ensure that soy production in the Amazon region only takes place on already converted agricultural land and not through deforestation of native vegetation.
To offer our customers a more environmentally friendly alternative, we introduced a new product range in 2020. Since then, we have been offering the "new environmental option", or "neo" for short, for all soybean oil-based products. With our neo quality, we focus on regional sourcing and processing.
Merginat neo and Merginol neo products are manufactured in a batch process using soybean oil produced in Germany. The seeds used come from European cultivation and are free from deforestation and land conversion. Together with shorter transportation routes, emissions are reduced to such an extent that European soybean oil causes only a fraction of the emissions in the form of CO2 equivalents compared to non-certified, international soybean oil.
In December 2021, we became involved in the "Deforestation-free soy supply chains" task force of the Forum "Nachhaltigere Eiweißfuttermittel" (more sustainable protein feed, FONEI). We cooperated with the Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung (federal office for agriculture and food, BLE) and renowned NGOs such as WWF Germany. The aims of the task force were to exchange ideas across industry boundaries, discuss challenges together and identify opportunities and possibilities for deforestation-free and conversion-free soy supply chains.
- Find out more - we shared our perspectives and provided practical insights for the WWF study "Deforestation and conversion-free supply chains".
On May 31, 2023, the EU Deforestation Regulation EU 2023/1115 was published and will come into force on December 30, 2024. It obliges market participants to make the entire supply chain deforestation-free and to ensure this through documentation. At HOBUM, we will also be offering deforestation-free soybean oil-based products in our standard range from 30.12.2024.
Code of Conduct
As a member of the Specialist Association Foamed Plastics and Polyurethanes (FSK), we act according to the principles of the code of conduct available for download below.
Guideline for Labour and Human Rights
