3 July 2012 --- Maxx Performance, a leading provider of microencapsulation technologies, has joined the global GreenPalm Sustainability Project to tackle the environmental and social problems created by the production of palm oil.

GreenPalm regulates plantations, mills and nations to help develop, implement, verify, and review credible global standards for the entire supply chain of sustainable palm oil.

“Our customers will be pleased to know that for every ton of palm oil and palm kernel oil we use in the production of microencapsulates, we’ve paid a voluntary premium to a palm oil producer who is certified as operating within strict guidelines for social and environmental responsibility,” said Maxx Performance President & CEO Winston Samuels. “We’re proud to join the ranks of Nestle, Kraft and Wal-Mart in supporting sustainability and making a tremendously positive impact on our industry.”

Palm oil and palm kernel oil are used to make a host of food and non-food products, including margarine, cereals, baked goods, soaps, detergents and cosmetics. Palm oil can also be used in animal feedstuffs and as a bio fuel.

Malaysia and Indonesia produce about 85 percent of the world’s harvest. However, not all palm oil production is sustainable, creating issues relating to biodiversity, soil degradation, local people, land rights and more. Development of new plantations has resulted in large areas of rainforests with rich biodiversity, including orangutans, being cut down.

Certified sustainable palm oil and palm kernel oil is produced by palm oil plantations that have been independently audited and found to comply with the globally agreed environmental standards created by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). These stringent sustainability criteria relate to social, environmental and economic good practice.