Unlocking Biobased Certification: A Step Towards a Sustainable Green Journey

In a world where environmental awareness is on the rise, businesses face unprecedented pressure to transition to greener practices. Consumers increasingly prefer products that are environmentally friendly and sustainably sourced. However, the plethora of eco-labels in the market, often varying in quality, can leave consumers feeling confused and skeptical about many environmental claims.

A 2021 study by the European Union revealed that 42% of online environmental claims are exaggerated, false, or misleading—practices often referred to as "greenwashing." This, without a doubt, heightens consumer distrust. In this context, companies urgently need a reliable and authoritative certification to validate their products' green attributes, thereby enhancing brand image and market competitiveness.

What is Biobased Verification

Biobased Verification involves testing and assessing the biobased content of products to confirm compliance with established standards. Biobased products are those made wholly or partly from biomass materials derived from various organisms through photosynthesis, including plants, animals, and microorganisms.

Compared to traditional products sourced from fossil fuels, biobased products typically feature lower carbon emissions, superior environmental performance, and higher sustainability. Obtaining biobased certification not only boosts market recognition but also strengthens consumer trust in the products.

Principles of Biobased Testing/Verification

Biobased certification primarily evaluates the proportion of biobased content in products. According to the ASTM D6866-24 analysis standard, "biobased" refers to organic carbon from renewable sources, such as materials from agriculture, plants, animals, fungi, microorganisms, marine, or forestry sources living in a naturally balanced atmospheric environment.

The ASTM D6866 standard provides a method to distinguish between modern biobased carbon inputs and fossil-based carbon. Since biomass contains a certain amount of carbon-14, it can be easily differentiated from other materials (e.g., fossil fuels) that do not contain any carbon-14.

Using Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) for carbon-14 testing is the most effective way to determine the biobased carbon content in raw materials or any final product. Given the known carbon-14 content in biomass, the percentage of biobased carbon can be easily calculated from the total organic carbon in the sample.

SGS green marks Biobased Certification Service

To meet the green transition needs of businesses, SGS has launched the green marks biobased certification service. This service is based on internationally recognized standards, such as ISO 17065, ISO 17029, ISO 14065, and ISO 14021, providing companies with comprehensive biobased content validation and certification.

Products certified under the SGS green marks will carry the widely recognized SGS mark, which can be used on products, promotional materials, and advertisements, showcasing to end-users that their environmental claims have been validated by SGS.

SGS green marks biobased certification service not only helps companies reduce the risk of greenwashing but also enables products to stand out in a competitive market, enhancing brand image and marketability. Additionally, it fosters consumer confidence in "green" product choices, promotes industry-wide green transformation, and supports societal green development.

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