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DEKRA’s local Norwegian auditor guides Pelagia through the ISCC certification process

Pelagia, a global market leader in high-quality pelagic fish products, is committed to ensuring that nothing is wasted from the 1.3 million-plus tonnes of fish it processes annually. The company’s commitment to circularity even extends to converting some of the raw materials into fuel to heat its own production facilities. DEKRA’s local Norwegian auditor guided Pelagia through the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) certification process. Karen Vanglo Tønnessen, Sustainability Manager at Pelagia, explains how the ISCC certificate makes emissions reporting easier, supporting the company’s sustainability goals and leading to new business opportunities.

“We transform raw materials into a wide range of products, including fish for human consumption, health supplements, fish oil, marine proteins, protein concentrates and essential ingredients for various fish and animal feeds,” says Karen, who has been with the company for seven years. “However, our suppliers can sometimes suffer issues that lead to fish dying, in which case they may not be used as raw materials for food or feed. These are classed as Category 2 products.”
To avoid those Category 2 products being wasted, Pelagia set up a facility at one of its factories in Norway to convert them into fuel oil. “We use the resulting oil to run several of our facilities throughout Norway – including the one that produces the oil, so this really is a very circular process!” says Karen.
“Transitioning our factories away from fossil fuel has reduced our heating and fuel-transport-related greenhouse gas emissions by several percent for the entire company, so it strongly supports our company’s sustainability goals. When used for heating, the oil generates less than 10% of the emissions of regular heating oil,” she continues.

Easier to report emissions

The company identified the ISCC scheme as a potential route to making its emissions reporting easier. “We were looking for a way to prove that all the fish oil we burn as fuel has come exclusively from Category 2 raw materials, rather than from higher-quality raw materials that could also be used to make higher-value products. Additionally, being able to document and verify the low emissions from the oil has great value for us,” says Karen. “However, after doing some preparatory work, we thought that the ISCC scope was too complex for us. But then we came into contact with DEKRA’s very experienced and respected auditor here in Norway. Thanks to DEKRA’s experience with similar companies, we learned that ISCC certification was a realistic possibility for us after all,” she recalls.

Pushing ahead quickly

Having done much of the preparatory work already, Karen was keen to push ahead quickly. “The team at DEKRA in the Netherlands drew up a contract and coordinated the planning very effectively. During the audit and certification process itself, our primary point of contact was the local auditor. He was always on hand to help us navigate the ISCC website and answer any questions about the relevant documents and procedures. We’re very happy to have found him,” she states.
The audit took place over a period of two days in early October 2024, around a month after Pelagia’s initial meeting with the auditor. Two of Pelagia’s facilities were audited, both in the north of Norway: the production facility in Djupvik and the storage facility in Jøvik.

Audit in the Norwegian language

“Having an auditor who understands the local language and culture definitely helped to smoothen the cooperation with our operational colleagues at our facilities. And even though I personally don’t mind communicating in English, the ISCC documents, technical terms, regulations and procedures can be pretty complex, so it was nice to have someone guiding me through the whole process in my own language,” comments the Sustainability Manager.
The audit revealed a few non-conformities. “But that’s normal in a first audit – and they were all minor points, so we managed to fix the gaps quickly. As a result, we received our ISCC certificate by the end of October,” says Karen.

Valuable third-party proof

The company’s primary aim is to use the oil it produces to heat its own facilities throughout Norway, but occasionally it supplies the oil to other customers too. “Additionally, we sell the protein part – which is a by-product of the conversion process – to companies such as biogas facilities for the creation of energy. Now that we have the ISCC certificate, we can provide our internal and external customers as well as the government authorities with third-party proof of our sustainable, low-emission activities. This has even led to a few new customers already,” she concludes.