Mass Balance, Segregation and Book & Claim: Reading Sustainability Claims on Oleochemical Certificates

Every few weeks a buyer forwards us a certificate and asks a simple question: does this document mean the drum in front of me is certified material? The honest answer is that it depends on which chain-of-custody model sits behind the certificate, and the four models used across the oleochemical supply chain are not interchangeable. They differ in what is physically separated, what is administratively allocated, and what a buyer can legitimately put on their own product claim.

Four models, four different promises

Identity Preserved keeps a certified batch physically separate from farm or mill all the way to the finished oleochemical, and the documentation follows that specific batch. Segregated mixes certified material from several sources but keeps the whole pool certified and physically separated from non-certified material. Mass Balance allows certified and non-certified material to be mixed in processing and logistics, with certified volume tracked administratively and allocated proportionally to output. Book and Claim separates the physical material entirely from the certificate, which is traded as an independent credit.

The practical consequence is that under Mass Balance, the fatty acid in a tank can physically contain both certified and conventional feedstock, while the certificate states how much certified volume the supply chain is allowed to claim. That is not a loophole. It is an accounting model designed for commodity chains where continuous processing makes physical segregation economically impossible. But it does mean the certificate supports a volume claim, not a physical property of every kilogram.

Why the same certificate covers different volumes

Certified volume is conserved through processing, not weight. A tonne of certified crude palm oil does not become a tonne of certified stearic acid, because the fatty acid profile splits into several product streams with different yields. Supply chain actors convert certified volume using agreed conversion factors, and each conversion step is a place where paperwork can drift from physical reality. When a certificate shows a certified tonnage that looks generous relative to the product you are buying, the right move is to ask for the conversion basis rather than to assume an error.

What to check before accepting a claim

Start with the certificate scope: which legal entity, which site, which product group, and which validity window. A group certificate that covers a trading entity does not automatically cover a third-party warehouse that re-bags the material. Next, confirm the chain-of-custody model and ask the supplier to state it in writing on the specification or the order confirmation, not only in a marketing deck. Then check the volume maths: certified input, conversion factor, certified output, and the balance carried forward. Finally, ask who holds the transaction record that links your delivery to the certificate. If nobody can point to that record, the claim will not survive a customer audit.

How this lands on a purchase order

For most industrial buyers the workable approach is to separate two requirements. The first is product quality, which is settled by specification, certificate of analysis and retained samples. The second is sustainability attribution, which is settled by chain-of-custody documents and volume reconciliation. Keeping them apart prevents a certified claim from being read as a quality guarantee, and prevents a good certificate of analysis from being read as proof of origin. Where a customer needs a physical segregation claim on their own label, the sourcing decision has to be made at the feedstock level, not patched at the packaging line.

SINOFO Group supplies glycerin, propylene glycol, fatty acids, fatty alcohols and fatty acid esters to industrial and food customers, and works with buyers on the documentation package that sits behind each shipment, including specification sheets, certificates of analysis and chain-of-custody records where a certified claim is required. If you are reviewing a sustainability claim or preparing a supplier audit, send us the product and the destination market and we will tell you which documents the shipment can realistically carry.