Mission & Principles

The Sustainable Biomaterials Collaborative is a network of organizations working together to spur the introduction and use of biomaterials that are sustainable from cradle to cradle. The Collaborative seeks to advance the development and diffusion of sustainable biomaterials by creating sustainability guidelines, engaging markets, and promoting policy initiatives.

A “biomaterial” is any material made from annually renewable plant matter (as opposed to non-renewable prehistoric plant material, fossil fuels), including agricultural crops and residues, and trees. Sustainable biomaterials are those that are (1) sourced from sustainably grown and harvested cropland or forests, (2) manufactured without hazardous inputs and impacts, (3) healthy and safe for the environment during use, and (4) designed to be reutilized at the end of their intended use such as via recycling or composting.

The Collaborative represents a wide range of stakeholders including green product businesses, social investment firms, recycling professionals, and academics, along with advocates focused on environmental health, environmental justice, or rural communicties. Indeed, the Collaborative is unique in that it brings together diverse groups and issues across the lifecycle of biomaterials: sustainable agriculture and rural development in the growing of crops; clean production and green chemistry in the manufacture and use of biomaterials; and recycling, composting, and zero waste at the end of product life. Together we are defining the lifecycle properties of a sustainable biomaterial and working with businesses to develop and use these materials.

Members of the Collaborative endorse the following core principles:

Reduce the amount of material, product and packaging used;
Eliminate single-use products that can be neither recycled or composted;
Avoid fossil-fuel-based materials in favor of materials and products derived from renewable feedstocks;
Address sustainability across the life cycle of the material: the growing of the feedstock, manufacturing of the biomaterial and final product, using the product and reclaiming the material at the end of its original use;
Define sustainability to include issues of environment, health, and social and economic justice;
Design and use products that are reusable, recyclable or compostable;
Encourage agricultural systems that are sustainable for farmers, the environment, farm workers and communities;
Support small- to mid-sized family owned and operated farms;
Do not use genetically modified organisms in agricultural feedstock production;
Use chemicals that meet the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry(1);
Avoid engineered nanomaterials and chemicals that have not been tested for environmental and public health effects across the lifecycle; and

Background and Structure

The Collaborative grew out of a stakeholders meeting in Minneapolis, April 2006, Biopolymers Strategy Meeting: Criteria and Markets for Sustainability. The meeting was organized by the Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy, Clean Production Action, and the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production. Representatives from 44 organizations participated. Following the event, a coalition of these groups crafted sustainable purchasing guidelines for bioplastics and continued to dialogue via a new listserve and periodic conference calls. The coalition formally became The Sustainable Biomaterials Collaborative and agreed to focus in 2007 on establishing a web site, launching the guidelines, and seeking companies and others to adopt the guidelines.

The Collaborative is now coordinated by a 5-member steering committee, which is led by two co-coordinators:
Mark Rossi, Clean Production Action (CPA) – Collaborative Co-Coordinator
Brenda Platt, Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) – Collaborative Co-Coordinator
Tom Lent, Healthy Building Network (HBN)
Jim Kleinschmit, Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy (IATP
Cathy Crumbley, Lowell Center for Sustainable Production (LCSP), University of Massachusetts Lowell