Since the beginning of the year, Bioenergy Europe (former AEBIOM) is actively working on the establishment of a new quality scheme for Wood Chips and Hog Fuel at the international level, answering a long-awaited market request. Prior to its official launch, slated for the end of 2018, all business players involved in the sector are entitled to give their opinion on the future requirements of the scheme.
Over the past months, Bioenergy Europe has been working with the support of a Technical Committee and an Advisory Committee (National Partners) to create a scheme which truly meets the needs of the market, replicating the approach that made the success of ENplus® – the world leading pellet certification, also managed by Bioenergy Europe.
The certification named “GoodChips®” will certify the quality of Wood Chips and Hog Fuels products, covering all types of quality through a dozen of classes. GoodChips will be managed with a third-party conformity assessment, ensuring impartiality and transparency for companies and end-users. Bioenergy Europe manages the scheme at the international level, giving consistency to the scheme, and National Partners support and promote it nationwide, creating a bridge with companies.
As the preparatory work has been completed, all European stakeholders involved in the sector are entitled to review and comment the main elements of the certification’s guidelines (technical specifications, role of the certification bodies, fees, and trademark use) by 7th September, through four dedicated questionnaires, as announced by Bioenergy Europe on its website.
Following this round of consultation, all collected inputs will be assessed by Bioenergy Europe and its committees to improve the documents prior to the scheme’s official presentation planned for the end of the year.
