ASTM International (West Conshohocken, Pa.; www.astm.org) has been selected to provide certification for the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA; Washington, D.C.; www.usda.gov) bio-based labeling program, a voluntary initiative to identify bio-based products and to promote their sale among consumers seeking to purchase goods using renewable resources.
As the selected provider, ASTM International will manage the Certification Program for Bio-based Products, which will determine the product and package bio-based content for manufacturers and vendors that choose to participate. The products will be tested by an outside-accredited laboratory according to ASTM standard D6866, Test Methods for Determining the Bio-based Content of Solid, Liquid and Gaseous Samples Using Radiocarbon Analysis. ASTM standard D6866, which is the responsibility of ASTM Committee D20 on Plastics, can be used for products containing carbon-based components that can be combusted in the presence of oxygen to produce carbon dioxide gas.
In 2002, USDA launched the BioPreferred program to identify bio-based products, those with renewable plant, animal, marine or forestry materials as their main ingredients. The Bio-based Labeling initiative, launched in February 2011, demonstrates that an individual product has been tested and certified to have the minimum bio-based content determined for a particular USDA identified product category or be at least 25 percent bio-based for those products where a product category has not yet been established. According to USDA deputy secretary Kathleen A. Merrigan, "With a plethora of labeling claims in the marketplace, consumers want to know that what they are investing their dollars in is meaningful, that it is backed by some sort of certification. ASTM, working with USDA, will provide that certification."
ASTM will be third-party certifier for USDA bio-based labeling program
| By Scott Jenkins