3rd Biodegradable Plastics Symposium

Mr. Liu was one of the speakers on Day 2 of the symposium. He talked about ASTM D6866 testing and the ecolabeling programs that require or recommend the test. Several plastics manufacturers have expressed interest in testing. As with his efforts in other previous conferences, Mr. Liu has successfully promoted not only Beta Analytic’s services but also biobased content testing. The Application of Biodegradable Plastics symposium was held on May 15-16, 2011.

Chinaplas 2011

This year’s conference had 2,200 exhibitors and more than 80,000 visitors from 35 countries around the world. Event organizers hoped to continue their mission to showcase the most innovative and advanced plastics and rubber machinery and raw materials. Other concurrent events at Chinaplas 2011 included the Eco-friendly Plastics Conference. Mr. Liu joined the conference, which tackled Bioplastics and Degradable Plastics, Recycling and Energy-saving issues. Chinaplas 2011 started on May 17 and ended on May 20.

ASTM D6866 Lab Beta Analytic

Based in Miami, Florida, ISO 17025-accredited Beta Analytic has promoted ASTM D6866 biobased content analysis in various conferences around the world. The company supports the biobased industry by providing high-quality services with results routinely available in three to five business days.

The company has sample forwarding facilities in key cities around the world including London (UK), Sydney (Australia), Sao Paulo (Brazil), Beijing (China), New Delhi (India), and Nagoya (Japan). Beta Analytic has analyzed hundreds of biobased products since 2004 when the ASTM D6866 standard was first published.

Related posts:

1. ASTM D6866 Services Provider Beta Analytic Exhibits at ICTABP4 in China
2. Beta Analytic Joins 1st World Congress of Bioenergy 2011 in China
3. ASTM D6866 Lab Beta Analytic Joins 2011 World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology as Exhibitor

“I am excited to introduce our company’s fast services to many biobased product manufacturers and distributors at the conference. Many of these companies will find our services necessary for their eco-labeling applications and research and development in general,” Mr. Liu says.

Held at Shanghai Tongji University’s Jiading Campus, the ICTABP4 will feature new technology relevant to biomaterials as well as the latest processing technology, standards, testing, and trends for biodegradable materials. This year’s conference was organized by the Degradable Plastics Committee of CPPIA (DPC), Biodegradable Materials Group, China (BMG), Japan BioPlastics Association (JBPA), Biodegradable Plastics Institute (BPI), Korean Bioplastics Association (KBPA), European Bioplastics, the National Center of Testing and Supervision for Quality of Plastics (NTSQP), and the National Technical Committee 380 on Biobased & Degradable Materials and Products of Standardization Administration of China (SAC/TC380). Beta Analytic is one of the co-sponsors of this event.

ASTM D6866 Overview

ASTM D6866 is a method used to determine the exact percentage of a biobased product that came from biomass. It involves measuring a product’s radiocarbon content. Materials that came from renewable sources have known levels of radiocarbon in them whereas those from fossil sources have zero radiocarbon. A tray that is wholly made from wood has 100% biobased content while a plastic cup made from fossil sources has 0% biobased content. A bioplastic fork, on the other hand, has a biobased content greater than 0% and lesser than 100%.

ASTM D6866 has been incorporated in several biobased initiatives including the US Department of Agriculture’s BioPreferred Program, Vincotte’s OK Biobased Program, Japan Bioplastics Association’s BiomassPla certification and labeling system, and the EcoLogo’s standard for hand sanitizers CCD-170, among others.

Contact:
Liu “Steven” Fuming
Beta Analytic China Operations Manager
Tel: +86-1084-181-950
info@radiocarbon.cn

Related posts:

1. Beta Analytic Joins Back-to-back Plastics Conferences in Guangzhou, China
2. Beta Analytic Opens Facility in Beijing for ASTM D6866 Clients in Mainland China
3. Biobased Content Testing Lab Beta Analytic Exhibits at Wood-Plastic Composites 2011

ASTM D6866 has been added to the latest version of New Zealand’s Climate Change Regulations. The standard will be used to measure the non-biomass fraction of CO2 emissions from the combustion of used oil, waste oil, used tyres, or waste. Gases reported under the regulations are CH4, N2O, and non-biomass CO2.

Climate Change (Stationary Energy and Industrial Processes) Regulations 2009 (SR 2009/285)

Companies who will use the continuous emissions monitoring method to calculate emissions will measure the non-biomass CO2 from gas stacks according to ASTM D6866. Those who will use the periodic source testing method still needs to employ the method to determine the non-biomass CO2.

Details of ASTM D6866 inclusion in this regulation are found here.

Climate Change (Unique Emissions Factors) Regulations 2009 (SR 2009/286)

As part of the “requirements for applications for unique emissions factor approval for waste calculated using standard testing option,” ASTM D6866 can be used by companies burning waste when calculating a unique emissions factor for solid fuels.

ASTM D6866 is also part of the “sampling and testing requirements for the periodic source testing option.” Companies that burn mixed fuels (biomass with non-biomass) will measure the non-biomass fraction of the CO2 emissions in the gas stream in accordance with ASTM D6866.

View regulation excerpt here.

Related posts:

1. Western Climate Initiative Recommends ASTM D6866
2. Ontario GHG Regulation Identifies ASTM D6866 as Emissions Quantification Method
3. WCI Recommends ASTM D6866 Testing for Mixed Fuels Emissions

ISO 17025-accredited Beta Analytic, Inc., is ready to receive samples for ASTM D6866 testing in its facility in Beijing, China. ASTM D6866 is a standard method that determines the exact percentage of a solid, liquid, or gas that came from renewable sources by measuring the material’s carbon 14 content.

Carbon dioxide emissions from fuels with mixed biomass and fossil inputs, bioplastics, biofuels, and other biobased products for biomass/renewable fraction determination can now be sent to Beta Analytic’s China office at the 5th Floor South Block Tower C, Raycom InfoTech Park, No.2 KeXueYuan South Road, Haidian District in Beijing. The company also has a Chinese business development representative, Mr. Liu Fuming, to manage its communications in the country.

“We opened the Beijing facility to provide a better service to our clients in Mainland China. Through this office, sample submissions will be easier and more convenient for them as they will have less paperwork to do when sending samples abroad. The samples will also arrive in our Miami lab faster via overnight courier services,” says Mauricio Larenas, Beta Analytic Business Development Team Leader.

“We are also glad to have Liu Fuming to take care of our business communications in China. I’m sure our Chinese clients will appreciate having someone who can talk to them in their own language,” Mr. Larenas adds.

Companies with U.N. Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects in China dealing with municipal waste and using the CDM AM0025 Methodology can still submit their gas bag samples directly to the Miami lab but it would be cheaper and more convenient to send them to the Beijing office. Manufacturers in China needing biobased content product certification, biofuels research and development teams, or those needing verification of a material’s biobased content will be better served through this China office.

ASTM D6866 is a versatile method, able to analyze samples in any form – solid, liquids, or gases. Certain regulations in North America and Europe recommend, sometimes require, ASTM D6866 testing. Regulations include the US EPA greenhouse gas mandatory reporting rule, California’s AB32, Western Climate Initiative, the Climate Registry, and the Australian Government’s Department of Climate Change protocols. The method has also been incorporated into the UN CDM AM0025 and the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s BioPreferred Program, Belgian Vincotte’s OK Biobased certification, and Canada’s EcoLogo program (for hand sanitizers) also require ASTM D6866 testing.

About Beta Analytic

Beta Analytic, Inc. provides radiocarbon dating services as well as ASTM D6866 and CEN 15747 testing, which employ carbon 14 dating techniques. Founded in 1979, the company has a growing client list of more than 9,000 scientists and engineers from more than 30 countries worldwide. Beta Analytic’s headquarters is in Miami, Florida. It also has an office in London, UK, and a representative in Nagoya, Japan.

Contact:

Mauricio Larenas
Business Development – Florida
Tel: (1) 305-662-7760
info@betalabservices.com

Liu “Steven” Fuming
Business Development – China
Tel: +86-1084-181-950
info@radiocarbon.cn

Related posts:

1. Beta Analytic Opens New Delhi Facility for ASTM D6866 Clients in South Asia
2. Beta Analytic to Open Sample Forwarding Facility in North Sydney, Australia
3. ASTM D6866 Services Provider Beta Analytic Exhibits at ICTABP4 in China

Thierry Sam Tamers, Beta director, states:

We would like to bring to your attention that there might be a misinterpretation that sewage, as mentioned in the definition of “waste derived fuel,” is entirely from biomass.

Our internal tests using method ASTM D6866 and numerous research publications (two cited below) have demonstrated that sewage contains an important amount of fossil carbon from sources such as detergents, shampoos, etc.

We therefore recommend that the Western Climate Initiative include sewage, along with other materials/fuels that contain fossil carbon, in the sub-category of heterogeneous fuels such as municipal solid waste as cited in the “waste derived fuel” definition.

J. McEvoy and W. Giger, Accumulation of linear alkylbenzenesulphonate surfactants in sewage sludges, Naturwissenschaften, Volume 72, Number 8 / August, 1985, 429-431

http://www.springerlink.com/content/m445654ju0011888/

W Giger, PH Brunner, and C Schaffner, 4-Nonylphenol in sewage sludge: accumulation of toxic metabolites from nonionicsurfactants, Science 10 August 1984, Vol. 225. no. 4662, pp. 623 – 625

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/225/4662/623

Related posts:

1. Beta Public Comment: EPA GHG Protocol Proposed Rule
2. Beta Analytic Comments on US EPA Proposed Rule for Deferral of Biogenic CO2 Emissions
3. Beta Public Comment: EPA Renewable Fuel Standard Program

Beginning 2008, the Biofuels Sales Obligation of New Zealand requires companies that sell petrol or diesel to sell biofuels as well. Thus there was a need for the government agency Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) to come up with a monitoring procedure to check if the producers’ claim of biofuel percentages is indeed correct.

In 2007, the Rafter Radiocarbon Laboratory of GNS Science was tasked by the EECA to develop an appropriate monitoring procedure to verify producers’ claims of biofuel percentages. The lab developed a method through carbon 14 analysis of the bioblends.

The lab was able to establish that radiocarbon dating is an effective method to determine the presence of modern biological components in a biofuel blend. The procedure is applicable to all two-component fuel mix samples where one component is from fossil sources while the other is from recent plant or animal sources. The method has been validated with an accuracy of ±0.5%.

Related posts:

1. Testing the Accuracy of Retail Biodiesel Blends via Radiocarbon Dating
2. ISO Develops Radiocarbon Dating-Based Standard for Stationary Sources Emissions
3. UK DfT Recommends Carbon-14 Analysis to Measure Biofuel Renewable Content