Glossary of Terms
Biobased: a product determined to be a commercial or industrial product other than food or feed that is composed, in whole or in significant part, of biological products or renewable domestic agricultural materials (including plant, animal, and marine materials) or forestry materials. Source: USDA, Section 9002 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002.
Biodegradable: the degradation of material from naturally occurring microorganisms, such as bacteria, fungi or algae over a period of time. Source: ASTM
Compostable plastic: plastic that undergoes degradation by biological processes during composting to yield CO2, water, inorganic compounds, and biomass at a rate consistent with other known compostable materials and leave no visible, distinguishable or toxic residue. Source: ASTM
Life cycle assessment (LCA): compilation and evaluation of the inputs, outputs and the potential environmental impacts of a product system throughout its life cycle. Source: ISO 14040
Renewable energy resources: naturally replenishing but flow-limited, virtually inexhaustible in duration but limited in the amount of energy that is available per unit of time. Renewable energy resources include biomass, hydro, geothermal, solar, wind, ocean thermal, wave action, and tidal action. Source: DOE/EIA
Sustainable: process or state that can be maintained at a certain level indefinitely, to provide the best outcomes for the human and natural environments both now and into the indefinite future. Source: World Commission on Environment and Development
Sustainable packaging system: a target vision for companies to strive for packaging that can be transformed into a cradle to cradle flow of packaging materials in a system that is economically robust and provides benefit throughout its life cycle. Sustainable packaging that is:
- Beneficial, safe and healthy for individuals and communities throughout its life cycle;
- Meets market criteria for performance and cost;
- Sourced, manufactured, transported and recycled using renewable energy;
- Maximizes use of renewable or recycled source materials;
- Manufactured using clean production technologies and best practices;
- Made from materials healthy in all probably end-of-life scenarios
- Physically designed to optimize materials and energy;
- Effectively recovered and utilized in biological or industrial cradle to cradle cycles.
Source: Sustainable Packaging Coalition
