Identity Preservation – Certified and non-certified products cannot be mixed and certified products may not be mixed either . This affords traceability to a specific producer , farm , or forest |
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Mass Balance |
Certified and non-certified products may be mixed however , the exact volumes of certified materials are tracked such that an equivalent volume of the product can be sold as certified |
Commonly used for products where segregation is difficult such as Coffee , Cocoa , Sugar , and Tea . |
Timber – The complex nature of the production process at paper mills makes segregation almost impossible .
Cocoa – Complex supply chain means that segregation is very expensive .
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Book and Claim |
A company can obtain sustainability certificates for the volume of certified materials put into the system . The certificates can be bought and sold meaning that sustainability claims can be made via the existence of a certificate even though the actual product may not have been certified . |
In this system , certified and non-certified products are mixed and there is no requirement to track them . Rather , the certificates issued and traded are tracked . |
CO2 Emissions and Green Power – the trading of certificates allows retailers to offer green power at a premium despite not knowing if the electrons it supplies were certified or not so long as it has purchased the certificates needed to do so . |
Table 2 |