News Release

Inolex joins Sustainable Castor Association

Endorsing environmental, social, and governance best practices for a
more responsible castor supply chain

PHILADELPHIA, PA, August 15, 2023 — Along the west coast of India, in the state of
Gujarat, dozens of smallholder farmers and their families gathered with excitement.
Children and adults eagerly passed around a range of materials and consumer
products, including Inolex’s sustainable ingredients, all produced from local farms of
responsibly grown castor.

Earlier this year, Inolex accompanied Arkema, one of the founding members of the
Sustainable Castor Association (SCA), on a trip to India where over 80% of the
world’s supply of castor seed is produced. As an organization, SCA is focused on
enabling sustainable castor farming to enhance the environmental, social, and
economic profile of this versatile crop throughout the supply chain.

“Meeting families in the castor farming community was an incredible experience,”
said Audrey Wesson, Corporate Sustainability Manager at Inolex. “It’s inspiring to
see how Arkema, in addition to other SCA members, are supporting farmer
prosperity, helping them reduce resource use and adopt best practices while
concurrently investing in the health and education of their communities.”

As a designer of sustainable plant-based ingredients, Inolex is committed to building
a more viable supply chain through the selection and support of its raw material
partners. For castor, the opportunity links back to the farmers in India who are
growing it.

Castor is an inherently sustainable crop, with several implicit benefits: it is naturally
drought resistant with the ability to thrive in marginal soil; it can grow on rotation with
staples such as cumin, mustard, and other local crops; the plant does not compete
as a food source, and what is not extracted from the seed pod as castor oil is generally repurposed as fertilizer. Further, because the cash crop has a long storage
life, the farmers have more flexibility and autonomy in the marketplace.

While these benefits are extensive, Wesson notes, “there are always opportunities to
better support growers and contribute to improved outcomes via the environmental,
social, and governance impacts of farming.”

This is where SCA comes in, helping to enable a more traceable and verified supply
chain through certification, and building programs to support the livelihood of castor
farmers. The castor standard code, SuCCESS, which is managed by the SCA, is the
standardized certification criteria for sustainable castor. Currently SuCCESS certified
supply represents about 1% of global castor oil supply and includes over 6,200
farmers and 6,000 hectares. In addition to building traction in the certified castor
supply chain, the community around SCA supports farmers through educating on
good agricultural practices that boost yields, create water reduction efficiencies, and
improve safety and community health practices.

According to Wesson, the opportunity to help farmers develop professionally and
enhance the quality of life for their families resonates deeply with Inolex’s mission to
source raw materials in a socially responsible manner.

“When we look at the work that the Sustainable Castor Association members are
doing, all of these actions are positively impacting farmer livelihood, local
ecosystems, and the security and sustainability of the value chain,” says Wesson.
“We are excited to be part of SCA and honored to have been included in this trip.
We now understand first-hand how a more sustainable castor crop starts with the
farmer, is carried through our feedstock, and pulled through the supply chain all the
way to beauty care consumers.”

For more information on Inolex and its responsibly sourced raw materials, please
visit our website at www.inolex.com.

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