Code of Federal Regulations Title 7. Agriculture § 7.3201.21 Disposable containers

(a) Definition. Products designed to be used for temporary storage or transportation of materials including, but not limited to, food items.

(b) Minimum biobased content. The preferred procurement product must have a biobased content of at least 72 percent, which shall be based on the amount of qualifying biobased carbon in the product as a percent of the weight (mass) of the total organic carbon in the finished product.

(c) Biodegradability. At the time a manufacturer offers a product under this item for Federal purchase under the BioPreferred Program, the preferred procurement product must be capable of meeting the current version of ASTM D6400 if disposed of in a non-marine environment, the current version of ASTM D7081 if disposed of in a marine environment, or other appropriate and applicable standard for biodegradability.

(d) Determining overlap with an EPA–designated recovered content product. Qualifying biobased products that fall under this item may, in some cases, overlap with the EPA–designated recovered content product:  Paper and Paper Products. USDA is requesting that manufacturers of these qualifying biobased products provide information on the BioPreferred Web site of qualifying biobased products about the intended uses of the product, information on whether or not the product contains any recovered material, in addition to biobased ingredients, and performance standards against which the product has been tested. This information will assist Federal agencies in determining whether or not a qualifying biobased product overlaps with EPA–designated paper and paper products and which product should be afforded the preference in purchasing.

(e) Preference compliance date. No later than May 14, 2009, procuring agencies, in accordance with this part, will give a procurement preference for qualifying biobased disposable containers. By that date, Federal agencies that have the responsibility for drafting or reviewing specifications for items to be procured shall ensure that the relevant specifications require the use of biobased disposable containers.