Biobased and Biodegradable Definitions

Biobased and biodegradable polymers have two different meanings. Biobased products are materi s made from some amount of biobased materials (Narayan 2006). Biobased products were defined in the 2002 Farm Bill as commercial or industrial products that are composed in whole, or in significant part, of biological products, renewable agricultural materials, or forestry materials. The definition was expanded with the 2008 Farm Bill that incorporated biobased intermediate ingredients or feedstock (Biobased 2013). 

The USDA established minimum biobased content standards for many product categories. Products must meet or exceed the minimum biobased content in its category to be certified as biobased products. ASTM D6866 provides a test method to measure the biobased content of products. This will be explained more in Chapter 8 (ASTM D6866 2013). 

Biodegradable polymers are converted to biomass, CO2, and water through a thermochemical process in a specified time frame and in a specified disposal environment. Biodegradable polymers meet ASTM or ISO standards for biodegradation in a biodegradation environment, 

Sustainable Plastics Environmental Assessments of Biobased, Biodegradable, and Recycled Plastics, First Edition. Joseph P. Greene. 

In Europe, biobased polymers can be certified as biobased with the OK Biobased certification program from VinCotte (OK Biobased Certification 2013). Biobased plastics are made with a renewable resource that can offer lower environmental impacts than petroleum-based plastics (Bastioli, C. (2005)). Replacing petroleum-based carbon with organic carbon from today can reduce the carbon footprint of the plastic material based on life cycle assessments (LCA Narayan 2006a, 201 lb). 

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