U.S.-based Orion Engineered Carbons (NYSE: OEC), a specialty chemicals company, reports that it has reached a major sustainability milestone, becoming the first to achieve International Sustainability and Carbon Certifications (ISCC Plus) for multiple carbon black grades made from different feedstocks at plants in two regions of the world.

A press release said that the ISCC PLUS certification involved rigorous audits of Orion’s plants and processes that confirmed the company’s compliance with high sustainability requirements. It also verified the transparency and traceability of sustainable raw materials in the company’s value chain at three plants producing the concerned grades of carbon black.

“No other company is making multiple grades of sustainable carbon black with different feedstocks at multiple plants across the world,” said Corning Painter, Orion’s CEO. A decade ago, Orion was the first major producer to develop and commercialize carbon black made from renewable feedstocks, such as industrial-grade vegetable oils or other oils derived from waste and residues of biological origin from agriculture or forestry.

Orion notes that the company is also the only carbon black producer in the BlackCycle initiative, an EU-funded project focused on developing the production of circular carbon black.