Blogs

After submitting a proposed rule concerning nanoscale materials to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on October 6, 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Spring 2014 Regulatory Agenda item concerning nanoscale materials has been revised. The Regulatory Agenda item posted online in May 2014 referred to the development of a significant new use rule (SNUR) under Section 5(a)(2) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that would require persons who intend to...

On October 6, 2014, DuPont and Proctor & Gamble announced their joint plan to replace currently used corn-based ethanol with cellulosic ethanol in North American Tide® laundry detergent. According to DuPont's press release on the announcement, the cellulosic ethanol used in the detergent will come from DuPont's new biorefinery being constructed in Nevada, Iowa. A copy of the press release, with more information on the announcement, is available online.

Target and Wal-Mart hosted the first ever Beauty and Personal Care Products Sustainability Summit on September 4, 2014, in Chicago, Illinois. Target has seen sales of natural and organic products in the beauty and personal care category grow 17 percent over the last year, indicating a clear demand from consumers for more sustainable products. Over 80 participants gathered in Chicago, including representatives from EPA, manufacturers, non-profit organizations, and packaging companies, for a...

The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs (DMEA) has launched the first edition of a Biobased Packaging catalogue that was compiled by Wageningen UR Food & Biobased Research. The catalogue came about as a result of companies becoming interested in the development and application of bioplastics, especially in the wake of products like the well-known "plant bottle" from Coca Cola. The Biobased Packaging catalogue, published in Dutch, presents a review of the options for using...

USDA has amended the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances maintained by the National Organic Program (NOC) to allow biodegradable biobased mulch film to be used in organic production with restrictive annotations. To be used in organic production, the mulch must be produced in accordance with NOC's rules for organic production. This rule becomes effective on October 30, 2014. More information about the amendment is available online.

On October 3, 2014, Agriculture Secretary Vilsack announced that USDA reached an agreement with Silicon Valley Bank to provide a $91 million Biorefinery Assistance Program loan guarantee to Cool Planet for a biofuel plant in Rapides Parish, Louisiana. The money will help finance construction of the Cool Planet advanced biofuel plant. The USDA press release is available online. More information is available here and here.  

On October 2, 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that its Office of the Inspector General (IG) plans to review the reported results from the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards Program. Its objective reportedly is to ensure that all reported "Green Chemistry" program contributions from EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) to EPA's performance measures are adequately supported and transparent. The IG will contact the...

On October 6, 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) submitted a proposed rule to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) entitled “Chemical Substances When Manufactured or Processed as Nanoscale Materials; TSCA Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirements.” The Regulatory Agenda item linked to the proposed rule states that EPA is developing a significant new use rule (SNUR) under Section 5(a)(2) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that would require persons who intend...

On September 30, 2014, the European Commission (EC) Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) posted a clarification on the meaning of the term “sprayable applications/products” for certain nanomaterials. According to the clarification, the EC Member States asked SCCS to clarify the meaning of the term “sprayable applications/products” in the conclusions of its safety assessments for carbon black CI 77266, titanium oxide, and zinc oxide. The clarification states:...

Researchers from the Centre for Novel Agricultural Products at the University of York worked with colleagues in France to discover variant straw plants whose cell walls are more easily broken down to make biofuels. Straw is an ideal plant to be used as biomass as it does not have food uses and contains a high number of polysaccharides that can be fermented into ethanol. Previously, straw has not been commercially viable as a biofuel feedstock as the cost of breaking down the straw to produce...