The Myth of Sustainability of Palm Oil & Byproducts
Palm wax has been increasingly used as a replacement for paraffin wax in candle–making, cosmetics, soaps, and lubricants. For quite some time there has existed the myth of sustainability of palm oil and its byproducts, but of recent research data from environmental agencies has overwhelmingly dispelled this myth. Although palm wax is sometimes equated with carnauba wax, which also comes from a palm tree, the two are not the same thing. Palm wax comes from palm trees that specifically produce palm oil.
The tree is native to Central and West Africa, but it is also grown extensively in the tropical Asian countries of Indonesia and Malaysia. The tree produces clusters of red fruit. Commercial oil comes from the outer flesh of the fruit. This is the oil that is mostly used to create the palm wax used for candles and beauty products.
Another type of oil palm, the American oil palm, is grown in South and Central America. The oil from the American oil palm was likely used to make candles by early settlers in the Americas and isn’t as widely used commercially as the African oil palm.
The Myth of Sustainability of Palm Oil Products
Most oil palms are grown and cultivated strictly as a source of palm oil. Palm oil really took off as an industry in the 20th century. Since then, oil palms have been grown in Africa, Indonesia, and Malaysia on a very large scale. This requires a lot of land that needs to be cleared (deforested), often by way of slash–and–burn agriculture.
To manufacture palm wax, palm oil has to undergo processing before it can be used in consumer products. First, the palm oil has to be extracted from the palm fruit by streaming the flesh to destroy its natural enzymes and then pressing the fruit to release the oil.
Then the palm oil is hydrogenated (a process that adds hydrogen to a liquid to turn it into a solid). Sometimes the oil is bleached to turn it white, especially when sold as candle wax. Palm oil can also be extracted from the kernel of the fruit by mechanical presses. Palm kernel oil has a different composition so it isn’t usually converted into wax. Instead, it is mostly used in food products.
Environmental Impact
Palm wax is slightly more sustainable than synthetic waxes like paraffin or gel, but it is not the most sustainable vegetable wax. Technically, plants are a renewable resource, whereas the source of paraffin wax is crude oil—a non–renewable resource. But just because a product comes from plants, it doesn’t automatically mean that it is environmentally–conscious. It really comes down to how the raw material of the product is grown and produced.
Growing oil palms leads to massive deforestation through slash–and–burn agriculture. The ash produced by burning trees does benefit the palm trees by fertilizing them. But the problem is that continuous cultivation of the same land over several years eventually leads to a decline in the fertility and usability of the soil.
Clearing land in this way is neither sustainable nor environmentally–conscious because besides creating habitat loss for numerous plant and animal species, including humans, there is also the damage to natural resources like the top soil.
Environmental issues related to the problem of palm wax manufacturing have existed for many years. For instance, desperate to improve economic conditions, the Indonesian and Malaysian governments have allowed palm producers to ravage the local environment.
Between 1967 and 2000 the area used for cultivating oil palms in Indonesia expanded from less than 2,000 km2 (770 square miles) to more than 30,000 km2. The majority of the land cleared is home to some of the oldest and most diverse rainforests in the world.
Deforestation in Indonesia from palm oil production and illegal logging has become so rapid that a 2007 report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) stated that most of the country’s forest might be destroyed by 2022. The exponential rate of deforestation in Indonesia ranks it as one of the world’s largest CO2 emitters.
A Sobering Discovery
In 2006 the world’s foremost conservation organization, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), partnered with oil producers to form the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an organization committed to finding a way to produce palm oil in “a sustainable manner based on economic, social, and environmental viability.”
While the RSPO is a respectable organization, it has virtually no control over the behavior of its members. Even “certified” members of the organization (only 15 out of 355 total members) are only required to prove that a percentage of their supply is sustainable. Even when buying from a certified grower, there is still a good chance that the oil is tainted.
“There is absolutely, unequivocally, no such thing as sustainable palm oil; it simply does not exist!”
—Andrew Butler, of British cosmetics company Lush
Human Impact
Another issue of palm oil is that it is harvested by hand in hot tropical climates, which is grueling work that takes a toll on the workers whom are payed very little. One way to ensure that palm oil products are ethically sourced is by supporting company members of the RSPO, which are now implementing human rights initiatives that follow the United Nations Guiding Principles (UNGPs) on Business and Human Rights. Other than the RSPO, there aren’t any other organizations out there that currently support sustainable palm wax production.
Palm wax is a vegetable wax (of plant origin). Read our post an easy breakdown wax as a raw material to learn about all the different types of waxes and their origin sources. Palm wax that is left in its original state is 100% natural.
But since palm wax is used in health & beauty products, and in candle–making, so other chemicals like fragrances and dyes are added. Anytime chemicals are added to a commercial product, it ceases to be “natural”, unless the fragrances and dyes are natural as well. Palm wax is biodegradable and can actually biodegrade in as little as two weeks if the conditions are right.
Palm wax is compostable as long as it is in its 100% natural state. Some chemicals can harm your compost. So unless you’re completely sure that a product made with 100% natural palm wax, it’s best not to use it in your compost. Neither palm wax, nor any type of wax, is recyclable because they leave behind a sticky residue that causes problems for recycling machines.
Palm Wax vs Beeswax
Palm wax is not better than beeswax. Beeswax is more sustainable and environmentally–conscious than palm wax because it can be locally sourced in most places, whereas palm wax has to be exported and imported creating emissions since oil palm trees are grown exclusively in Africa, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
Carbon and greenhouse gas emissions are the single greatest contributors to the climate crisis. The only one upside to the use of palm wax over beeswax is that palm wax is a vegan product. Beeswax comes from an animal source and is therefore technically not a vegan product.
Palm Wax vs Soy Wax
Both palm wax and soy wax contribute to deforestation. On one hand, the soybean industry—the source of soy wax—is a much larger industry than the palm wax industry. Soybeans are grown all over the world, primarily as feed for cattle. So deforestation from soybean production is higher than it is with palm oil production.
Soybeans are harvested using machinery, which results in energy use and higher greenhouse gas emissions. Palm oil is harvested by hand, there’s very little machinery used.
Since soybeans are grown all over the world, there’s a greater availability of locally sourced soy wax, which lowers transport greenhouse gas emissions. Oil palm trees are only grown in three areas of the world. Palm wax—or the oil used to make it—isn’t locally sourced, it has to be transported.
Two Sustainable Alternatives to Palm Wax
The two types of wax that are more sustainable than both paraffin wax and palm wax are beeswax and coconut wax. Read our list of 5 great natural (soy & beeswax) candle brands for suggestions on alternatives to gel, paraffin and palm wax candle retailers.
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