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Did You Know?

Both Products and Packaging Can be USDA Certified Biobased!

The Double Label stamp enables manufacturers to promote multiple certifications.

The BioPreferred Program has a unique label for situations when both a product AND its packaging are certified biobased. This is referred to as the “double label” stamp. Currently, 15 products have earned labels for both packaging and product content.

Here’s what the double label stamp looks like. In this example, the product is 76% biobased and its packaging is 96%, with both meeting minimum standards for certification.

As the BioPreferred Program celebrates the 10th anniversary of the USDA Certified Biobased Product label, we reached another huge milestone:
5,000 products have now earned their certifications!

Get the Down and Dirty on
Biobased Laundry Products

Whether it’s from planting perennials, carving pumpkins, or hiking muddy trails, autumn weather leads to loads of laundry! When choosing laundry products for your home or as part of a work assignment at a healthcare, hospitality or campus setting, there are many environmentally friendly, biobased product options—including laundry detergents, dryer sheets, pretreatments, and spot removers. Best of all, their performance matches those of traditional laundry products.

In many products, particularly detergents, petroleum-based ingredients are replaced with biobased plant oils and enzymes. Plant oils function as surfactants which help trap dirt and remove it from the surface. Enzymes allow you to lower the water temperature and save on energy costs. While cold water washing is not appropriate in every setting (e.g., hospitals), cold water washing can save up to 80% of the cost of electricity.

Most major manufacturers of laundry products offer biobased options, several of which have earned the USDA Certified Biobased Product label. These alternatives are often free of petrochemicals, chlorine, sulfates, parabens, optical brighteners, and synthetic fragrances. Biobased dryer sheets generally contain plant-based softening agents and are either fragrance free or are scented with essential oils. To further help the environment, look for biobased dryer sheets that are recyclable or compostable. When buying pre-treatment and spot removers, search for biobased products that use ingredients such as orange oils to remove stains and avoid harsh chemicals. 

The USDA BioPreferred Program Catalog is a good resource to find competing brands of biobased laundry products. Your local grocery store, department stores, and other retailers likely offer biobased product options as well. Of course, when shopping in-store, you can also “do the twist” to look for items which display the USDA Certified Biobased Product label.

Two New Program Courses Now Available

The BioPreferred Program engages in ongoing efforts to educate acquisition professionals on biobased product purchasing requirements. Find both courses (described below) here.

Fundamentals: Biobased Products and the USDA BioPreferred Program
This web-based training program introduces biobased products, the federal procurement preference for biobased products, and the voluntary certification and labeling initiative. This narrated course offers interactive opportunities, knowledge checks, and short videos to reinforce course objectives.
1 CLP recommended. 

Sustainable Purchasing with Biobased Products
In July, the BioPreferred Program conducted a training session as part of the General Services Administration’s (GSA) Smart Pay Conference. This course is designed to assist federal purchase card holders and managers in their efforts to identify, select and purchase biobased products. More than 100 acquisition professionals have already attended the training!

CONTRACTING OFFICERS CORNER

Your Role in Reporting of Biobased Product Purchases

As required by law, Federal contractors with service and construction contracts must report their biobased product purchases. To enable this, Contracting Officers must correctly enter information about contracts in the Federal Procurement Data System.
Learn how in this brief video.

Navigating the 8L Field in the Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation (FPDS-NG)

As service and construction contracts are awarded, and the contract information is entered in FPDS-NG, it is critical to properly code the Recovered Materials/Sustainability or 8L field. Clause 52.223-2 – Affirmative Procurement of Biobased Products Under Service and Construction Contracts requires that the contractor purchase biobased products in categories designated by USDA, and that they report those purchases via the BioPreferred Program portal in the System for Award Management (SAM).  In order for the contractor to report, one of the following codes must be entered in the 8L field of FPDS-NG. The correct code depends on other sustainability requirements included in the contract.

Need assistance? Contact us at: help@usdabiopreferred.net

Can a Product Display Multiple Labels on its Packaging? Often, the USDA BioPreferred Program receives questions from participants on how to properly display labels and promote their USDA Certified Biobased Products. Recently, the Program received two requests about whether it’s possible to display multiple labels.

The answer is YES – provided items are clearly labeled! Here's an example. Grove Collaborative has a bundled offering which contains three different USDA Certified Biobased Products, each of which is packaged in a glass bottle. Their solution? Display each of the product’s labels individually on the product package. This provides consumers with clearly labeled product information for informed buying decisions and enables the brand to make strong claims regarding its commitment to using biobased ingredients.  Have a question for the USDA BioPreferred Program team about your own branding and label promotion? Contact us at: help@usdabiopreferred.net.

In Case You Missed It!

More consumer goods packagers are turning to renewable, plant-based plastic, or a combination of petroleum- and plant-based polymers, for their packaging. See an example here of the USDA Certified Biobased Product label applied to packaging.

On the 10th anniversary of USDA’s Certified Biobased Product Label, the USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development (RD) Justin Maxson unveiled an Economic Impact Analysis of the U.S. Biobased Products Industry. The report demonstrates that the biobased industry is a substantial generator of economic activity and jobs, and that it has a significant positive impact on the environment.   Photo taken during USDA RD BioPreferred Program  event held in NYC, with children from the Boys and Girls Club of Harlem in attendance.

Also on the 10^th anniversary, we recognized the first 500 companies to earn the ability to display the USDA Certified Biobased Product label. See the full list of pioneers!

Nine ecolabels (including the USDA Certified Biobased Product Label) help guide healthier, more sustainable product selections. Read about them here.

_{Created by the 2002 Farm Bill and modified in subsequent legislation, the BioPreferred Program was instituted to create new markets for agricultural commodities, forestry, marine materials, and renewable chemicals. The Program has two initiatives which include the mandatory federal purchasing of biobased products and a voluntary certification and labeling effort.}