BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, Wash.—Teragren, a manufacturer of bamboo flooring, panels, veneer and worktops, has earned the USDA Certified Biobased Product Label for its complete line of bamboo building products.
The USDA Certified Biobased Product Label verifies that the products’ amount of renewable biobased ingredients meets or exceeds prescribed USDA levels. Biobased products are goods composed in whole or in significant part of agricultural, forestry or marine materials.
The purpose of the USDA BioPreferred® program is to promote the increased purchase and use of biobased products. The increased purchase of biobased products is expected to reduce petroleum consumption, increase the use of renewable resources, better manage the carbon cycle, and may contribute to reducing adverse environmental and health impacts.
“We are very excited that our products have tested at such a high biobased content, and are looking forward to proudly displaying the USDA BioPreferred label on all of our products going forward” says Teragren President Mike Boshart. The label is estimated to be on certified Teragren products and available to consumers by early 2013.
Teragren’s bamboo products tested at the following levels, by category:
- PureForm traditional bamboo flooring with 99 percent biobased content
- Xcora strand bamboo flooring with 94 percent biobased content
- Bamboo worktops with 99 percent biobased content
- PureForm traditional bamboo veneer with 99 percent biobased content
- Architectural bamboo panels with 99 percent biobased content
All biobased claims are verified by independent labs and monitored by the USDA.
The BioPreferred program includes a preferred procurement program for federal agencies and their contractors, who are required to give preferential consideration to USDA biobased designated product categories when making purchases. As a part of this process of designating product categories for the federal procurement preference, USDA establishes the minimum biobased content for the category. Information on the technical, health, and environmental characteristics of these products are also considered. Additionally, Presidential Executive Order 13514, Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance, mandates the purchasing of biobased products.
