What is Testfakta Bio-based?
Testfakta Bio-based is a voluntary programme for certifying and labelling bio-based products. The purpose is to promote use of materials based on renewable resources rather than fossil ones. Products that meet the requirements may bear the Testfakta Bio-based symbol. The label also shows how much of the product is bio-based. Read more about the label.
A number of environmental certification schemes already exist. Is another necessary?
The transition from fossil-based to renewal materials is a key part of Sweden’s fossil-free national strategy and the EU’s bioeconomy strategy. Testfakta Bio-based focuses on the bio-based content of a product and the origin of the renewable source. It gives consumers a chance to compare different products in terms of their bio-based material content, and enables manufacturers to substantiate their claims about their products’ environmental properties through independent certification.
Testfakta Bio-based does not supersede existing environmental forms of certification. In combination with other eco-labels, however, Testfakta Bio-based improves consumers’ scope for making sustainable choices.
What does certification involve?
The certification process starts with an application from the manufacturer or retailer, along with technical documentation, and facts and figures about the product’s bio-based content. The documentary information is reviewed and the bio-based content of the product is verified and defined by chemical analysis at independent laboratories.
If the product meets the criteria, the company is allowed to label the product with Testfakta Bio-based. The proportion of bio-based material it contains is shown on the label. Read more about what certification involves.
What is a bio-based product?
A bio-based product is made wholly or partly of biomass (not fossil raw materials such as oil and coal). Biomass may be plant raw materials derived from forestry, agriculture and aquaculture, for example, but also animal raw materials such as slaughterhouse waste and by-products from farming and the food industry.
In a 100% bio-based product, all the component materials come from renewable resources or, in other words, the product consists entirely of biomass. A product made of wood, with no fossil-based components such glue or lacquer, is by definition 100% bio-based. An 80% bio-based product is one in which 20% of the total material of the product is unconnected with renewable materials. All the calculations are based on the dry weight of the product.
Is bio-based the same as plant based?
A certified bio-based product does not guarantee that the product is 100 percent plant based. However, plant based raw materials are the most common in bio-based products.
How do you measure bio-based content?
The method used for measuring bio-based content is known as carbon-14 analysis or radiocarbon dating. Measuring the amount of carbon-14 (C14) that remains in a material or product enables the age composition of the organic carbon to be determined.
Carbon-14 (C14), a carbon isotope found in all living materials, is formed in the atmosphere and reacts with oxygen in the air to form carbon dioxide (CO2). When carbon dioxide reaches the Earth’s surface, it is taken up by plants through photosynthesis. C14 is weakly radioactive, and gradually disappears owing to radioactive decay. The continuous uptake of new carbon dioxide by plants offsets this radioactive decay, with the result that the amount of C14 is more or less constant in all living plants. When a plant dies, the uptake of carbon dioxide (and C14) ceases and the loss from the decay is no longer offset. Finally, after more than 50 millennia, there is no C14 left in the dead material.
How does the content of inorganic materials affect the assessment?
Inorganic materials, such as minerals and metals, have varying effects depending on the type of certification. Under current European guidelines for communication to consumers (EN 16935: 2017), it is the product’s biomass in relation to total mass, organic and inorganic, that forms the basis for the assessment. According to ASTM D6866*, the assessment is made on the basis of the bio-based share of total organic carbon. The inorganic carbon is not included in the assessment and, for example, a lacquered metal component is therefore assessed only in terms of the proportion of bio-based organic carbon in the lacquer. This is because the metal, as an inorganic material, is not taken into account.
Are bio-based products better than others?
Products based wholly or partly on bio-based materials represent potential means of avoiding fossil raw materials. Choosing bio-based options thus promotes a transition to a bio-based economy and, in the long term, a fossil-free society.
Choosing renewable raw materials is not enough to make a product sustainable. It is also vital to consider environmental impact resulting from, for example, growing and producing biomass. Testfakta Bio-based requires compliance with environmental and health protection legislation, and biomass must be produced sustainably, without causing any decrease in food supply.
Criteria for certification also cover product performance. Where the product type has a clear, measurable function or effect, proof of the product’s performance must be shown.
What are the requirements for products to be certified?
Only products with bio-based content that exceeds a certain proportion of total product content may be certified and labelled as Testfakta Bio-based. The minimum share required for certification varies from one product category to another.
Production of the bio-based content (renewable material) must be environmentally sustainable, and may not adversely affect food supply.
Testfakta Bio-based also sets requirements concerning product performance: certified products must function satisfactorily.
What products can be certified?
All products that contain or are based on some type of organic material (material containing organic carbon), with the exception of feed and food products, can be certified - provided that they meet the requirements for certification.
How are certification and labelling financed?
The company pays a charge for the documentation review, calculation and verification analysis of the bio-based organic carbon share. If the product meets the certification criteria, the company pays an annual licence fee for the right to use the Testfakta Bio-based label.
May a certified product contain palm oil or residuals from the palm-oil industry?
The sustainability criteria for certification according to Testfakta Bio-based comply with the guidelines issued by the RSPO (the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil). This means that all palm oil must be RSPO-certified.
The RSPO works for fair employment conditions, reduced social conflicts and protection of valuable forests. No sites may be cleared for new plantations in what remains of untouched rainforest and other important ecosystems.
Which organisations are responsible for the certification?
Testfakta Biobased Europe AB is in charge of certification, development of criteria for certification and communication to the market. Testfakta cooperates with RISE (Research Institutes of Sweden), which assesses, on behalf of Testfakta Bio-based, whether products meet the certification criteria. RISE is also responsible for performing technical measurements to verify the bio-based content of products. Based on the result from RISE’s assessment and the technical measurement, Testfakta issues the Testfakta Bio-based certificate.
Who checks whether the certification keeps its promises?
Testfakta Biobased Europe AB cooperates with the state-owned Research Institutes of Sweden AB (RISE). Testfakta Bio-based is in charge of labelling and marketing criteria, and also issues the Testfakta Bio-based certificate. RISE assesses whether a product meets the criteria for labelling. RISE is also responsible for performing technical measurements to verify the bio-based content of products. Testfakta Bio-based issues the certificate on the basis of the results from RISE’s review and technical measurement.
After a certificate has been issued, market spot checks are carried out to verify that there are no changes in the product during the three years for which the label is valid. This guarantees that the product fulfils the certification requirements throughout the period.
Who is behind Testfakta Bio-based?
The Testfakta Bio-based certification programme is a collaboration between Testfakta and the state laboratory group RISE Research Institutes of Sweden. Testfakta Bio-based Europe AB is a wholly owned company in the Testfakta group.
The Testfakta group is engaged in independent testing and research, and specialises in laboratory tests of consumer products. The group performs tests and investigations for the media, manufacturing industry and government agencies.
What is the purpose of Testfakta Bio-based?
The overall aim of Testfakta Bio-based is to drive progress towards a fossil-free economy, by helping to boost demand for bio-based products. This, in turn, results in higher proportions of renewable raw materials being used in existing products and more bio-based options being developed.
Is Testfakta Bio-based a profit-driven organisation?
Testfakta Bio-based Europe AB is a wholly owned company in the Testfakta group. The purpose of the group’s operations is to spread information intended to guide consumers and help manufacturers and retailers to develop improved and more environment-friendly products. Any surpluses from the various parts of the group’s operations are reinvested in producing tests, and developing new test protocols and criteria for certification of new product categories.
To contribute to reduction of global warming, Testfakta Bio-based allocates 3% of its licence revenues to various projects involving efforts to preserve the world’s forested areas. In 2020, this money went to the organisation WeForest.org.
