Drax Biomass earns SBP certificates issued by SCS Global Services

The first Sustainable Biomass Partnership certificates issued by SCS Global Services, a leading global third-party certifier, were presented this week to industry leader, Drax Biomass Inc., for its Morehouse BioEnergy and Amite BioEnergy wood pellet manufacturing facilities. This certification follows on the heels of last month’s announcement that SBP had approved SCS as its newest certification body.  The SBP certification program is the world’s foremost standard for sustainable woody biomass production for use in industrial, large-scale energy production.

“SBP certification marks a major milestone in our quest to become a leading supplier of sustainably-sourced, high quality wood pellets,” said Pete Madden, president and CEO of Drax Biomass. “With this achievement, we’re able to further demonstrate our commitment to both sustainable forestry and meaningful stakeholder engagement in the communities in which we operate.”

The Drax Biomass Amite and Morehouse facilities are each equipped to produce up to 450,000 metric tons of wood pellets each year. The wood is Southern Yellow Pine sourced primarily from nearby privately-owned working forests that have supported the regions’ forest-based economies for many decades.  Thinnings, low-value roundwood, and harvesting residues are gathered and stored, then debarked and chipped.  Woodchips are screened for size consistency, then dried and further processed into compressed pellets of uniform moisture, ash content and calorific value. The assessment by SCS included a comprehensive evaluation of each stage of the sourcing and manufacturing process, as well as an audit of Drax Biomass’s Baton Rouge Transit storage and shipping facility.

SCS, a global leader in third-party certification of forestry operations, food and agriculture production, carbon offsets, green building products and more, successfully completed the SBP approval process in June.  This process involved a rigorous review of SCS’ assessment procedures and personnel qualifications, and included independent observation by SBP of the Drax Biomass facility audit conducted by SCS. 

Carsten Huljus, SBP CEO, commented, “SCS Global Services cleared a rigorous and robust approval process to become an SBP-approved certification body, offering worldwide certifications of biomass producer and biomass supply chain actors. SBP welcomes news of SCS’ first two certifications of Drax Biomass Inc.’s facilities.”

“We’re delighted to have earned SBP’s approval as a third-party certifier, and congratulate Drax Biomass for its important accomplishment,” said Robert J. Hrubes, SCS executive vice president.  “SBP certification is playing an increasingly vital role to ensure that biomass production is conducted in a responsible manner. As this certification demonstrates, Drax Biomass takes its commitment to sustainable production principles seriously.”

Additional information on Drax Biomass’s certification, including links to the SBP certificates, supply base evaluations, and other supporting documentation, can be found on the company website at www.draxbiomass.com