Celebrating Five Years of The USDA Certified Biobased Product Label

Since its launch five years ago, the voluntary labeling initiative has strived to make it easy for consumers to locate and compare biobased products for purchase. By choosing a product featuring the USDA Certified Biobased Product label, consumers can be assured that the USDA and the federal government stand behind the accuracy of the percent biobased claim stated on the label. The initiative also helps bolster America's growing biobased products industry. As detailed in BioPreferred's Economic Impact Report, biobased products pump $369 billion into the U.S. economy each year and support 4 million jobs, directly and indirectly, in rural and small towns across the United States. At the same time, biobased products provide an alternative to conventional petroleum derived products by focusing instead on products made with renewable, agricultural, marine, and forestry materials.

Today, approximately 2,500 products carry the USDA Certified Biobased Product label in more than 100 product categories. Certified products range from construction, janitorial, and grounds keeping products specified and purchased by the Department of Defense and Federal agencies, to personal care and packaging products used by consumers every day. The most recent product to be certified by USDA's BioPreferred Program is Tide detergent from Procter & Gamble. The new product, Tide PurClean, will be available to consumers in the coming months.

In the years ahead, USDA's BioPreferred Program will build on the success of the voluntary labeling initiative as it seeks to transform the marketplace for biobased products, elevate the role of innovative bioproducts in the burgeoning bioeconomy, and create jobs in rural America.

To learn more about the voluntary labeling initiative, visit BioPreferred.Gov.