The BioPreferred Program: Voluntary Labeling Initiative

As consumers consider purchasing options with sustainable attributes, USDA wants to make it easy for consumers to identify biobased products. The USDA Certified Biobased Product label, displayed on a product certified by USDA, is designed to provide useful information to consumers about the biobased content of the product.

A business with a biobased product that meets USDA criteria may apply for certification, allowing them to display the USDA Certified Biobased Product label on the product. This label assures a consumer that the product contains a verified amount of renewable biological ingredients (referred to as biobased content). Consumers can trust the label to mean what it says because manufacturer's claims concerning the biobased content are third-party certified and strictly monitored by USDA.

Biobased products are derived from plants and other renewable agricultural, marine, and forestry materials. These products provide an alternative to conventional petroleum derived products and include a diverse range of offerings such as lubricants, detergents, inks, fertilizers, and bioplastics. For the purposes of the BioPreferred program, biobased products do not include food, animal feed or biofuels.

Eligibility

Companies with eligible biobased products may apply.

Eligible products must:
have gone through an initial screening by the USDA;
AND
meet or exceed the minimum biobased content percentage in its given category OR, if they do not fall within a USDA established product category, contain at least 25% biobased content or an alternative proposed percent

See for percentages by product category

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