Today, reducing our dependence on fossil resources is a major challenge to society. Fossil raw materials are used not only for transport and heating, but to produce a wide range of chemicals, plastics and other components of ordinary, everyday products.
Many of the goods currently produced from fossil-based materials can be replaced by bio-based ones. Certification and labelling of bio-based products call attention to, and boost demand for, these products.
Until now, no certification and labelling have existed to show consumers clearly that a product is based on renewable raw materials.
Manufacturers like to use terms like “plant-based” or “natural” in their marketing. But it’s hard for consumers to know what these words mean or the share of a product that actually comes from bio-based raw materials. For consumers and companies alike, more transparency and guidelines in this area are needed, says Bengt Vernberg, CEO of Testfakta Bio-based.
Testfakta Bio-based is a voluntary environmental certification for bio-based products. Verification and labelling make it easier for consumers to choose products made from renewable raw materials to a large extent. Testfakta Bio-based thus helps to boost demand for bio-based products and raise the proportions of renewable raw materials in existing products. Certification will also, in the long term, help to ensure that more bio-based options are developed.
The certification rests partly on the findings from technical analysis of products’ carbon-based content, with quantification of materials from renewable and fossil sources.
Testfakta Bio-based is a joint venture involving Testfakta and RISE Research Institutes of Sweden. RISE contributes technical expertise, technical analysis and investigation of the documentation relating to criteria. Depending on these analytical and investigative findings, Testfakta Bio-based certifies and labels the products to confirm their bio-based properties.
The independent, state-owned research organisation RISE, with some 100 testing and demo environments that identify technologies, products and services with reliable future prospects, offers unique expertise. RISE’s main areas include bioeconomy and the use of biomass-derived chemicals and materials.
www.ri.se
Testfakta Bio-based is a company in the Testfakta group. Testfakta engages in independent testing and research and specialises in independent laboratory testing of products for consumers and commercial users.
biobased.testfakta.com
Magnus Larsson
Head of Sales & Business Development
biobased@testfakta.se
magnus.larsson@testfakta.se
+46 733 39 49 35
