REDcert and ISCC are both voluntary schemes recognised by the European Commission under the Renewable Energy Directive, so in principle a compliant consignment is compliant under either. In practice the buyer decides. Many European refiners are set up for ISCC EU, some accept REDcert-EU without question, and a few will only take one. That is a commercial position, not a legal one, and it is the single most useful thing to establish before you talk about price. Three names get mixed up: REDcert-EU is the European scheme for RED compliance, REDcert-DE serves the German national requirements, and REDcert² covers material in the chemical and material chain rather than fuel. A certificate under one of them says nothing about the others.
- 1Origin of the material
- 2Chain of custody
- 3Mass balance bookkeeping
- 4Scheme certificate
- 5Claim on the invoice
A claim is only as good as the weakest box to its left.
Three schemes with one name, and they are not the same thing
This trips people up constantly, including people who hold the certificate. Read the scheme name on your own certificate before quoting it in an offer.
The practical test is simple: what does the buyer have to book, and under which regime? If they are meeting a European renewable energy obligation, they need EU scheme material. If they are making a bio-based polymer, they are in a different world entirely.
- REDcert-EU, the European scheme for compliance with the Renewable Energy Directive. This is the one that competes directly with ISCC EU.
- REDcert-DE, built around the German national requirements. Relevant if the material is going into the German quota system.
- REDcert², for the chemical and material chain, closer in purpose to ISCC PLUS than to ISCC EU. Not a fuel compliance certificate.
- A certificate names one of these. Holding REDcert² does not make you REDcert-EU certified, and an offer that says only "REDcert certified" is incomplete.
Will my buyer accept REDcert instead of ISCC?
This is the question we are actually asked, in exactly these words, and the honest answer is: ask them, before anything else in the negotiation.
Both schemes are recognised by the Commission, so there is no legal barrier. What there is instead is an operational one. A refiner has its systems, its auditors and its internal procedures built around the scheme it uses, and adding a second scheme to its incoming flows is a decision somebody has to make. Some have made it; some have not.
What this means for a seller is uncomfortable but worth knowing: your certificate narrows your buyer list. Not to zero, and often not by much, but it narrows it. When you are choosing which scheme to certify under, ask who you expect to sell to rather than which audit looks easier.
- Establish acceptance first. Before the specification, before the price.
- Get it in writing. "We generally accept REDcert" from a trader is not the same as the compliance desk confirming it for this product.
- Check the product, not just the scheme. A buyer may take REDcert-EU for one feedstock and not for another, because its own downstream obligations differ.
- Expect the question in reverse too. Buyers ask us whether a parcel comes with ISCC or REDcert before they ask what is in it.
What happens when material crosses between schemes
Material certified under one scheme does not automatically carry into another, and this is where consignments get stuck. Both schemes have rules for recognising each other's material, and both make that recognition conditional.
The conditions are the part people skip. Whether the receiving party's own certification covers the incoming material, whether the sustainability declaration carries everything the receiving scheme needs, and whether the chain of custody method matches. Get any of those wrong and the volume is still physically fine but no longer bookable.
Practical consequence: if you know a parcel will cross schemes, raise it with both certification bodies before loading, not after the declaration has been issued. Re-issuing a declaration after the fact is difficult and sometimes impossible.
What a REDcert certificate actually tells you
The same reading applies as with any scheme certificate, and the same mistakes get made. A certificate is not a yes-or-no; it is a scope.
The most common failure we see is a certificate that is perfectly valid and simply does not cover what the offer says it covers. That is not fraud; it is usually a company that grew into a new product and did not extend its audit.
- Which scheme, exactly, in the words on the certificate.
- Which products are in scope. A trading scope and a processing scope are different things.
- Which activities. Collecting, trading, storing and processing are separate; holding one does not imply the others.
- Validity dates, and whether a renewal audit has happened.
- The registration number, so it can be checked in the scheme's own public database rather than taken on trust.
Where REDcert shows up in our own trade
REDcert comes up constantly in the waste oils and animal fats we are asked about, and the pattern is consistent: a seller in central or eastern Europe holds REDcert, a buyer in the Netherlands or Spain runs on ISCC, and the conversation stops until somebody checks.
It is worth an email at the start of a discussion rather than a problem at the end of one. We ask it as a standard question on any new enquiry, alongside the product, the volume and the analysis.
Frequently asked questions
Is REDcert the same as ISCC?
No, but they do the same job. Both are voluntary schemes recognised by the European Commission for demonstrating compliance with the Renewable Energy Directive, so material certified under either can in principle be used against the same obligations. They are separate organisations with separate audits, separate certificates and separate databases, and a buyer set up for one does not automatically accept the other.
Will a European refiner accept REDcert-EU material?
Many will and some will not, and it is a commercial decision rather than a legal one. The buyer's systems, auditors and internal procedures are built around whichever scheme it uses, and taking in a second one is a choice somebody has to make. Establish acceptance in writing before you discuss price, and check it for the specific product rather than in general.
What is the difference between REDcert-EU, REDcert-DE and REDcert2?
REDcert-EU is the European scheme for Renewable Energy Directive compliance and is the direct counterpart to ISCC EU. REDcert-DE is built around German national requirements and matters if the material goes into the German quota system. REDcert² covers the chemical and material chain rather than fuel, closer in purpose to ISCC PLUS. A certificate names one of them, and holding one says nothing about the others.
Can material move from REDcert to ISCC or the other way round?
There are rules for it in both schemes and they are conditional. What matters is whether the receiving party's certification covers the incoming material, whether the sustainability declaration carries everything the receiving scheme needs, and whether the chain of custody method matches. Raise a crossing with both certification bodies before loading; re-issuing a declaration afterwards is difficult and sometimes impossible.
Which scheme should I certify under?
Ask who you expect to sell to, not which audit looks easier. Your certificate narrows your buyer list, and the direction it narrows in depends entirely on your market. If most of your likely buyers run ISCC EU, certifying under REDcert alone puts a question in front of every conversation.
Do I need REDcert for the German market?
Not necessarily REDcert, but you do need something the German system recognises, and the proof has to end up in Nabisy for anyone claiming against the German greenhouse gas quota. See our page on Nabisy and the German market for how that part works in practice.
How do I check whether a REDcert certificate is real?
Take the registration number from the certificate and look it up in the scheme's own public database rather than relying on the PDF you were sent. Then read the scope: which products, which activities, and which dates. A valid certificate that does not cover the product in the offer is the most common problem, and it is usually an oversight rather than fraud.
Does a REDcert certificate mean the material is Annex IX?
No. Those are two different questions. The certificate says the operator is audited under a recognised scheme; the Annex IX category is a property of the material and has to be evidenced through the chain and stated on the sustainability declaration. Plenty of certified material is not Annex IX at all.
Market news
Recent headlines from across the feedstock and renewable fuel sector. Nothing specific to this market has come through the wires lately, so this is the wider view. The links go to the publisher; we do not host or edit their reporting, and a headline here is not our endorsement of it. Scroll for more.
- Singapore, Brazil move to build green fuel shipping corridor
- Auramarine builds business on marine fuel flexibility
- Stargate Hydrogen Strengthens Nordic Expansion with Petri Sarnes, Former Siemens Power Sector Director of FinBaltic region
- Econetix Adds New Biochar And Bamboo Project To Its Portfolio
- Everllence launches G80 ethanol capable engine for shipping with Vale
- Airfix, CO2 Energie AG and South Pole begin commercial cross-EU BECCS project
- California recycled content bill passes legislature
- RINA Type Approval for PowerCell Marine System 225
- Engine for ‘world’s first’ ethanol-powered VLOC completes R&D test
- Suzun Marine Fuels: Crew welfare and bunker contracts
- GMI doubles hydrogen bulker programme
- The top 10 most-read nova and RCI reports of the last 12 months
- UNDP, HUL partner to scale up circular economy for plastics
- Tyromer Wins Colorado Mining Cleantech Challenge with Circular Solution for Mining Tyres
- Planning for a circular city
- Recycling bills clear House subcommittee
- Envalior, Secara MOU focuses on PCR use in automotive resins
- Planning for a circular city: An implementation guide to strategic urban planning policy for circularity
18 headlines, updated automatically. Last refreshed .
Sources and further reading
Primary sources for the rules and figures on this page, so you can check them yourself. Legislation is amended: always read the consolidated text on the date that matters to you.
Who to ask about REDcert
Just ask. Holding REDcert material and unsure whether your buyer takes it? Send the certificate, the scope and the product and we will tell you where it lands. You get Bart van den Brug on the other end, same working day, in English or Dutch, and across the team also in French, Portuguese, Polish, Czech and Russian.
On how we work: on the feedstocks and fuels on this site we are a broker. We never take title, we do not trade our own book, and we are paid a commission on business that concludes. Additives are the one exception: those we also buy and sell for our own account, and we say in which capacity we are acting before you commit to anything. Either way you will hear it from us when the answer is no, or when your parcel is not ready for the conversation you want to have. A market read or a second opinion on a specification costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
Happy to look at whatever you have, even if it is half an analysis and a question.
+31 6 115 83 448
bart@sustainablecommodities.eu
Sustainable Commodities 3 B.V., Lemmer, the Netherlands
Ask about REDcert
A direct line to the desk. We answer the same working day in almost all cases, and we will tell you plainly when a cargo is not something we can place.
Prefer email? bart@sustainablecommodities.eu · +31 6 115 83 448
Last reviewed 03 September 2026. Regulatory references are given for orientation and are not legal advice: verify against the current Official Journal text before contracting.