Glossary

Additive includes chemical substances or engineered nanomaterials that are mixed into the product, surface treatments, or applied printing.

Agricultural biomass represents crops such as plants and trees that are intentionally planted for short‐term harvesting.

Agricultural co‐product is a byproduct from processing that can technically not be avoided. Co‐products are generally seen as having value in the market, such as scrap industrial materials from one process that are subsequently used as a raw material in a different manufacturing process.

Agricultural crop residue is plant material remaining after harvesting, including leaves, stalks, roots. These materials often have value from an ecological perspective, providing nutrients, protecting soil from erosion, and improving soil health and biodiversity.

Biobased refers to products or materials in which the organic carbon is derived from renewable forestry materials, agricultural crops or animals, or marine materials.

Biobased content is the amount of biobased carbon in the material or product as a fraction weight (mass) or percent weight (mass) of the total organic carbon in the material or product. ASTM Method D6866 is the U.S. government approved method for determining the renewable/biobased content of biobased products.

Biobased material(s) are organic material(s) in which the carbon comes from contemporary (non‐fossil) biological sources.

Biobased product means a commercial or industrial product (not derived from food or feed) that utilizes biologicalproducts or renewable agricultural (plant, animal, or marine) or forestry materials.

Biomass is biological material derived from living or recently living organisms.

Bioplastics are plastics in which 100% of the carbon is derived from renewable agricultural and forestry resources such as cornstarch, soybean protein, and cellulose. Bioplastics are not a single class of polymers but a family of products that can differ significantly from one another. They differ from traditional plastics, which are derived from fossil fuels or nonrenewable carbon.

Brushland is an area with a combination of grass, shrubs, and trees in which deciduous or coniferous tree cover comprises from one‐ to two‐thirds of the area, or shrub cover comprises more than one‐third of the area. These areas are often found adjacent to hay, pasture, grassland or forested areas and vary greatly in shape and extent.

Chemicals of high concern are chemicals that would meet the “Red List of Chemicals” listing on the Green Screen for Safer Chemicals developed by Clean Production Action and Healthy Building Network. These include chemicals that are persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic substances (PBTs), carcinogens (probable and known), mutagens, reproductive or developmental toxicants, very persistent and toxic, very bioaccumulative and toxic, very persistent and very bioaccumulative, neurotoxic, or endocrine disruptors.

Compostable product refers to a product that is capable of undergoing biological decomposition in a compost site, such that the product is not visually distinguishable; breaks down to carbon dioxide, water, inorganic compounds, and biomass at a rate consistent with those of known compostable materials (e.g., cellulose); and leaves no toxic residue. See Criteria 3.a and 3.b for how compostability should be verified and how compostable products should be labeled. Not all commercially compostable products are biodegradable in typical backyard settings.

Forest refers to an area where two‐thirds or more of the total canopy cover is composed of predominantly woody deciduous and coniferous species and areas of regenerated or young forest.

Forest‐ and brushland‐derived biomass refers to biomass that is harvested from forests.

Food service ware is a term used for utensils, containers, napkins, straws, lids, plates, cups, bowls, trays, cartons, and other items that are designed for take‐out or for holding and serving prepared foods.

Genetically modified (GM) organisms are organisms that have been created through the gene‐splicing techniques of biotechnology (also called genetic engineering or GE). This relatively new science allows DNA from one species to be injected into another species in a laboratory, creating combinations of plant, animal, bacterial, and viral genes that do not occur in nature or through traditional crossbreeding methods. (See http://www.nonGMproject.org/consumers/about‐GMs/).

Inorganic carbon refers to carbon‐based compounds that are derived from geological or soil parent sources (inorganic

materials). Inorganic compounds include elemental carbon (e.g., graphite), oxides of carbon (e.g., carbon dioxide), and carbonates (e.g., calcium carbonate).

Nanomaterial, engineered: A nanoparticle (NP) is a microscopic particle whose size is measured in nanometers, typically one hundred nanometers or smaller. Engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) are intentionally produced to perform desired technological functions in numerous applications. In contrast to natural and incidental NPs, which often exhibit variable and irregular morphologies (shapes and sizes), ENPs are characterized by regular, reproducible particle morphologies. Depending on the particular class and manufacturing process, ENPs can have different shapes, including solid or hollow spheres, rings, tubes, wires, horns, and sheets, and they can be synthesized in various sizes.

Nanotechnology refers to research and development at the atomic, molecular, or macromolecular level using a length scale of approximately one to one hundred nanometers in any dimension; the creation and use of structures, devices, and systems that have novel properties and functions because of their small size; and the ability to control or manipulate matter on an atomic scale. (See  http://www.epa.gov/osa/pdfs/nanotech/epa‐nanotechnology‐whitepaper‐0207.pdf.)

Native forests are largely naturally regenerated forests of any age consisting of a mix of tree species typical and natural for the region and forest type.

Non-food contact products refer to food service items that are not intended for serving food directly but may come in contact with food (e.g., napkins and trays).

Organic carbon refers to carbon‐based compounds where the element, carbon, is attached to other carbon atoms, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, or other elements in a chain, ring, or other three‐dimensional structure. Organic carbon can be either biobased or fossil‐based.

Organohalogen is a nonmetallic chemical compound that contains a halogen element, such as fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine, or astatine bonded to a carbon.

Perennial cellulosic feedstock is a woody or herbaceous crop (usually a grass) with a high cellulose content that lives for two years or more (without replanting) grown specifically for processing into biomaterials or bioenergy.

Post-consumer recycled (PCR) material is material discarded for recycling by a residential, commercial, or institutional consumer (as opposed to industrial scrap, which is discarded by the producer and, if recycled, is considered pre‐consumer recycled material).

Propostition 65 chemicals are those chemicals found by the California law, The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity.

Recycled content refers to the proportion (measured by mass) of recycled material in a product or packaging. Only preconsumer and post‐consumer materials are considered as recycled content.

Total carbon is the sum of the organic carbon and inorganic carbon content of a material.

Total recycled content equals post‐consumer recycled content plus pre‐consumer recycled content.