Pome Supply Chain - HSEC

CASE STUDY

Pome Supply Chain

We are currently assessing our biofuel supply chain. We trade Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME), a waste of palm oil, and refine it in our Spanish biofuel refineries. Palm oil production is particularly at risk for labor rights and local communities.

POME is widely sourced from Southeast Asia. It is a highly demanded commodity on European markets in a context of energy transition. To be imported into Europe, POME needs to be sustainably certified. The certification contains human rights-related criteria however, coverage is too light.

As part of our commitment to assess strategic suppliers by the end of 2025, we are working closely with our main biofuel suppliers to understand the exact origin of the POME (collection point and palm oil field) we trade and cover the gaps left by the certification schemes.

Access to remedy

At the Group level, we have a whistleblowing line available publicly on our website.

FOR OUR OPERATED ASSETS

  • All our operated assets have several grievance mechanisms in place for employees, contracted workers and communities.

Refineries are not isolated. They are located in an area with other industrial facilities. For each area, there is an emergency plan and a complaint mechanism. For each site, complaints are recorded and followed up through a robust health and safety management system.

In the Ingolstadt refinery, communities complaints are first received by the fire department, which forwards it to the relevant department to determine the cause of an event and whether the refinery is behind it. All information collected throughout the process is documented and actions may be implemented after the assessment. The complainant can choose to be informed of the outcome of the complaint, once it has been resolved.

FOR OUR OPERATED ASSETS

  • Checking the availability of reporting channels for workers and potentially affected communities is an important part of the human rights assessments. We strive to ensure that the grievance mechanism is accessible, is communicated to targeted users, and that the mechnisms to follow-up the complaint are working. This includes providing an adequate, timely response, as well as guarantees of confidentiality and non-retaliation.
  • The JVs have their own health and safety management system to review grievances of workers and of affected communities. Our human rights assessments have just reviewed that they are functional and efficient.