Palm oil and the dilemma.
As a soap maker, I think about my ingredients and where they come from because there is controversy about animal testing, animal fat or even certain plant fats and organic vs things grown and pressed with chemicals. I try to be as eco-friendly as I can. Trying to make an economical bar of soap, especially here in Norway where we are taxed on the importation of products and have to pay crazy amounts in freight, is difficult. I want to have enough profit to at least buy my next lot of ingredients. There are also certain limitations of the ingredients themselves.Soap makers have historically used what I refer to as the 'holy trinity' of soap making oils; olive oil, coconut oil, and palm oil. Using just these three oils in soap make it easy to adjust the hardness, lather and skin conditioning properties.
If you aren't aware, there has recently been some serious controversy over the production of palm oil and the destruction of rain forests in Indonesia and Malaysia. The world wide increase in demand for palm oil has created a boom in the industry, often with disregard for both the environment and workers rights. The destruction of the rainforest in South East Asia and resulting loss of habitat for orang utans has meant even more peril for this already endangered, wonderful primate.
It is a complicated issue. I have asked my past supplier of palm oil where it comes from but they couldn't even tell me. It is purchased as a commodity from a trader and processed and packaged in the UK. The industry seems reluctant to police itself. It does have a central body that is meant to police producers and hold them accountable, but it seems too little too late. If you want to read about this rather toothless lion, here is the website http://www.rspo.org/. This does little to help the end consumer make an informed decision. There are sources of palm oil grown not in the territory of orangutans. It is native to Western Africa. The plantations there are indigenous and pose no threat to the environment there. There are also plantations in Colombia that are very holistic and organic. The issue still exists that the world wide demand for palm oil is increasing and it is driving expansion in some countries that seem to have less than adequate protection of their endangered and valuable resources.
There are organisations keeping an eye on the corporations, besides their industry-run 'Roundtable'. International human rights organisations keep an eye on them due to their poor history of worker exploitation and land grabbing. You can read more on this website Institute for Human Rights and Business. Just search 'Palm oil' on this site and you can read for yourself.
Wilmer, the agribusiness giant, is responsible for a whopping 80% of palm oil production*. Their website is full of corporate brew-ha-ha, but it still makes for interesting reading, because a lot of it is on the defensive. This giant multi-corp shows up on a few watch-dog websites.
My current supplier of palm oil gets it from company that has earned a 'from sustainable resources' stamp on their products from RSPO. But after doing research on that, I don't think I'm happy. It is given to many producers and they have to be charged with multiple infractions before they can officially lose the designation and the cynic in me believes that it is no more than an industry-run rubber stamp. I do make soap with out palm oil and I will probably be looking for a better source of palm oil or I'll be reformulating. I don't think punishing all palm producers and their workers is the way to go, but putting pressure on the corporations that exploit this resource in developing countries is the only way change will occur.
We're the consumers of these products, but only informed and engaged consumers can make the best changes for themselves and what they believe in.
Sources: http://www.ihrb.org/commentary/organisations-seek-stronger-labour-protections-in-palm-oil-industry.html
http://www.rspo.org/
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