Managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the goal of the BioPreferred Program is to increase the purchase and use of biobased products. The BioPreferred Program was created by the 2002 Farm Bill and reauthorized and expanded as part of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill). The Program's purpose is to spur economic development, create new jobs and provide new markets for farm commodities. The increased development, purchase, and use of biobased products reduces our nation's reliance on petroleum, increases the use of renewable agricultural resources, and contributes to reducing adverse environmental and health impacts.
The two major parts of the Program are:
While the BioPreferred Program does not provide financial support for its participants, USDA's Rural Development agency offers loan and grant programs that may be applicable. For more information, please click here.
BioPreferred Program Fact Sheet [PDF]
Federal law, the Federal Acquisition Regulation, and Presidential Executive Orders direct that all federal agencies purchase biobased products in categories identified by the Department of Agriculture (USDA). To date, USDA has identified 139 categories (e.g. cleaners, carpet, lubricants, paints) of biobased products for which agencies and their contractors have purchasing requirements. Each mandatory purchasing category specifies the minimum biobased content for products within the category. The BioPreferred Program provides acquisition tools, the BioPreferred Catalog and training resources to assist in meeting biobased purchasing requirements.
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.
The term "biobased product" means a product determined by the Secretary to be a commercial or industrial product (other than food or feed) that is- (A) composed, in whole or in significant part, of biological products, including renewable domestic agricultural materials, renewable chemicals, and forestry materials; or (B) an intermediate ingredient or feedstock. Biobased Products are derived from raw materials such as plants and other renewable agricultural, marine, and forestry materials. Biobased products generally 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 fuel. This document provides more information about biobased content and how it is determined. Products participating in the voluntary labelling initiative have their biobased content measured using ASTM D6866 as part of the certification process.
