Biobased feedstocks must be responsibly sourced to ensure they benefit the planet, the economy, and people. Assessing the potential trade-offs between environmental, economic, and social factors is critical for success.
Responsible Sourcing of Biobased Feedstocks
Many factors contribute to the performance of a biobased feedstock. Taking a holistic view of feedstock cultivation is critical for success, including assessing tradeoffs between environmental, social, and economic factors. To put these impacts in perspective, BFA has developed a set of criteria to identify optimal biobased plastic feedstocks.
BFA defines an optimal biobased plastic feedstock as one that:
- Is legally sourced, conforms to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), and is produced in a safe and healthy way for workers and surrounding communities.
- Is derived from renewable biomass whose production is sustainably managed.
- Does not adversely impact food security and affordability, and maintains or improves social and economic conditions along with ecosystem services in producing communities.
- Does not directly or indirectly result in destruction of critical ecosystems or loss of high conservation value (HCV) habitats.
- Contributes to landscape resilience and is resilient to the impacts of climate change.
Biobased Feedstock Selection
Biobased feedstocks are generally divided into first generation (traditional agricultural crops), second generation (cellulosic crops, residue, and waste products), and third generation (non-traditional organisms like algae). However, feedstocks should be evaluated, not just by their 'generation' classification, but by their impacts on our planet and its people. BFA is feedstock neutral – we evaluate the environmental and social impacts of various feedstocks according to an objective set of criteria.
There is no list of “sustainable” or “non-sustainable” feedstocks; any such list would fail to account for important variation in production practices and regional differences. Instead, feedstocks should be evaluated using consistent and comprehensive performance criteria, and their production should be monitored for continuous improvement. See BFA’s Methodology for further information.
Communities
Learn about safeguarding the rights of all community stakeholders.
Climate Mitigation & Resilience
Learn how biobased plastics relate to climate impacts and resilience.
Biobased Plastic Overview
Overview of biobased plastic’s role in the circular economy.
