ASTM D6866, Beta Analytic » Top Story

Beta Analytic Upcoming Events

admin — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 02:27:17 +0000

6th Global Alternative Fuels Conference for Cement and Lime
March 5-6, 2012
Aachen, Germany

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Green Polymer Chemistry 2012
March 20-22, 2012
Cologne, Germany

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Biopolymer World Congress
April 23-24, 2012
Venice, Italy

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The World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology & Bioprocessings
April 29-May 2, 2012
Orlando, Florida

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International Conference on Biobased Polymers and Composites
May 27-31, 2012
Siofok, Hungary

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[Top Story] USDA BioPreferred Voluntary Labeling Program Requires ASTM D6866 Biobased Content Testing

beta analytic — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 20:38:35 +0000

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has finalized the guidelines for its BioPreferred Voluntary Labeling Program, under which eligible manufacturers and distributors of domestic and imported biobased products can affix a USDA Certified Biobased Product label to the approved goods and related promotional materials. The label discloses the biobased content of the product, the packaging material, or both product and packaging as measured via ASTM D6866 testing. The final rule was first published in the Federal Register on January 20, 2011, and is effective February 22, 2011.

The Voluntary Labeling Program only applies to commercial or industrial products (other than food or feed), intermediates, and feedstock that are partially or wholly composed of biological ingredients including renewable plant, animal, marine, or forestry materials. Motor vehicle fuels, heating oil, electricity produced from biomass, and mature market products are excluded. Mature market products, according the USDA, are goods that had a significant market share since 1972.

The USDA launched this voluntary labeling program in an effort to increase commercial demand for biobased products. “Today’s consumers are increasingly interested in making educated purchasing choices for their families. This label will make those decisions easier by identifying products as biobased. These products have enormous potential to create green jobs in rural communities, add value to agricultural commodities, decrease environmental impacts, and reduce our dependence on imported oil,” USDA Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan said.

The USDA BioPreferred Program consists of two separate schemes – a preferred procurement program that requires federal agencies and their contractors to buy products with high biobased content, and a voluntary labeling program for manufacturers and distributors who want their biobased products certified by the USDA.

Eligible Biobased Products

To receive USDA product certification, the biobased content of the product must meet the minimum biobased content requirements of its corresponding product category under the federal procurement preference program. Those that do not belong to any of the existing product categories under the federal procurement program must be 25 percent biobased unless the applicant applies for and receives an alternative minimum biobased content allowance.

Products imported for sale in the U.S. must adhere to the same guidelines as U.S.-sourced biobased products to be certified. Distributors and manufacturers of biobased products certified in other countries still need to apply for USDA product certification.

The USDA certification remains valid as long as the product is manufactured and marketed in accordance with the approved application and it continues to meet the minimum biobased content requirement. If a product is reformulated, its biobased content must meet the minimum biobased content required for the certification to remain valid. In the event that the USDA revises the minimum biobased content requirement for a product category, the approved product must meet the new minimum requirement to keep the certification valid.

ASTM D6866 Testing Required

Applicants under the Voluntary Labeling Program are required to provide supporting documentation of their biobased claims. ASTM D6866 test results from an ISO 9001 or ISO 17025 accredited lab are required. According to the USDA, ASTM D6866 biobased testing must be performed by ISO 9001 conformant testing facilities to ensure that the products using the label meet the high standards of the program.

Companies with goods already part of the BioPreferred Catalog for federal procurement need to have their products re-tested for biobased content via ASTM D6866 if they want to apply for this voluntary label. Products tested between February 20, 2010, and February 20, 2011, by an approved third-party laboratory are not required to be re-tested. The applicant, however, should notify the USDA in the “Legacy Tests” section of the online application and submit an additional form provided by the USDA via email. The USDA will obtain test results directly from the lab and continue evaluating the application.

The USDA will conduct occasional random ASTM D6866 testing of certified products to ensure compliance of the minimum biobased content reported in the approved application.

USDA Certified Biobased Product Label

The USDA label consists of an artwork, the biobased content percentage, and one of these text variations: USDA Certified Biobased Product, USDA Certified Biobased Product: Package, or USDA Certified Biobased Product and Package. Labels for biobased products that have been designated for preferred federal procurement will include the letters “FP” as part of the label’s artwork.

Sample images of the USDA label are found in the USDA BioPreferred website.

Source: BioPreferred Voluntary Labeling Program for Biobased Products Final Rule

Beta Analytic ASTM D6866 Lab

ISO 17025-accredited Beta Analytic serves the biobased industry by providing high-quality ASTM D6866 testing with turnaround times between three to five business days. The company recommends two analyses per material for better credibility and averaging when results are to be used for certification. For research and development purposes, one measurement is sufficient.

Beta Analytic is not affiliated with the USDA BioPreferred Program.

[Top Story] Beta Analytic Receives ISO 17025 Re-Accreditation

beta analytic — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 11:09:48 +0000

Beta Analytic, Inc. has reaffirmed its commitment to provide high-quality ASTM D6866, CEN 15747, CEN 15591, and EN 15440 testing services by maintaining its technical competence and the quality of its lab management system as required by its ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accreditation. The company received its re-accreditation in late December 2010.

The Beta Analytic lab is accredited to perform ASTM D6866-B by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) counting and ASTM D6866-C by liquid scintillation counter (LSC) counting. The company has provided ASTM D6866 testing since the method was first published in 2004. For clients in Europe, the lab offers bio-carbon content determination for solid recovered fuels (SRF) or refuse-derived fuels (RDF) via CEN/TS 15747:2008, CEN/TR 15591:2007, and EN 15440 testing.

ASTM D6866 is a method used to determine the biobased carbon content of any carbon-containing solid, liquid, or gaseous material. Due to this inherent flexibility, the method can be used to quantify the renewable carbon content of biofuels, biobased products like bioplastics, alternative fuels like municipal solid waste and used tires, as well as carbon dioxide combustion emissions. CEN 15747 and CEN 15591 are radiocarbon-based methods used in Europe to quantify the bio-carbon content of SRF and RDF.

The lab first received its ISO 17025 accreditation in November 2008. Its current accreditation expires on December 27, 2012. Please contact Mauricio Larenas at info@betalabservices.com or +1- 305-662-7760 for requests of accreditation certificate copies.

Beta Analytic Offices Worldwide

Based in Miami, Florida, the company has several facilities and local representatives in different regions to better serve its clients. Beta Analytic currently has sample shipping offices in London, UK; Nagoya, Japan; Beijing, China; New Delhi, India; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and North Sydney, Australia.

Founded in 1979, Beta Analytic is the world’s largest professional ASTM D6866 and CEN 15747 lab.

[Top Story] EPA Clarifies ASTM D6866 Use in Mandatory GHG Reporting Proposed Revisions

beta analytic — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 02:31:56 +0000

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is amending certain provisions of its Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Rule (MRR) to address issues raised after the MRR was first published in October 2009. Revisions will affect, among others, facilities combusting municipal solid waste or tires as fuels. These facilities no longer need to have continuous emission monitoring systems to use ASTM D6866 analysis.

In the first MRR, ASTM D6866 is used to quantify biogenic CO2 emissions from general stationary combustion units using MSW and heterogeneous fuels (a mix of biomass and fossil inputs).

The EPA has also provided a comprehensive list of materials that qualifies as municipal solid waste (MSW) as part of its proposed amendments. Other recommended changes include the option not to report biogenic carbon dioxide emissions from biomass combustion and recognition of tires as part biomass.

The proposed amendments were signed July 20, 2010. The 45-day public comment period begins after publication of the revised MRR in the Federal Register. The EPA expects to publish the final amended MRR before 2010 ends. Deadline for reporting of 2010 GHG emissions is on March 31, 2011.

Sources: MRR Technical Corrections; Preamble and Rule

ASTM D6866 Testing for Facilities with No CEMS

The EPA is proposing to lift restrictions limiting the use of ASTM D6866 analysis to facilities with continuous emission monitoring systems. The EPA would allow combustion units using a mix of biomass and fossil fuels, regardless of proportion, to measure their biogenic CO2 emissions on a quarterly basis via ASTM D6866 analysis. Even without a CEMS in place, gas sample collection is still to be done according to ASTM D7459. [Page 79111] of the MRR Proposed Changes]

Sampling Frequency Recommendation

Gas sampling via ASTM D7459 is still required by the EPA in a quarterly basis. Under the MRR, sample collection is done for a minimum of 24 consecutive operating hours every calendar quarter.

In the proposed amendments, the EPA would allow collection of an integrated sample by taking 1-5 cubic centimeters of flue gas during every operating hour over the course of a calendar quarter to obtain a more representative sample for ASTM D6866 analysis. This will solve issues with alternative fuels like tires whose composition varies over time. According to the EPA, if the type of fuel combusted and their relative proportions are not consistent throughout the quarter, more frequent, periodic sampling of the flue gas should be considered. [Page 79111] of the MRR Proposed Changes]

MSW Definition Clarified

The EPA has also clarified the meaning of municipal solid waste to include the solid phase of household, commercial/retail, and institutional waste. Materials not considered as MSW are used oil, wood pellets, clean wood, industrial process or manufacturing wastes, medical waste, motor vehicles, and construction/renovation/demolition waste. Yard waste, refuse-derived fuel, and motor vehicle maintenance materials like batteries and tires, are considered MSW. [Page 79138] of the MRR Proposed Changes]

Tires are Partly Biogenic

In the first MRR, tires were classified as fossil fuel-derived fuels; thus, tire combustion emissions would have been reported as 100% fossil CO2. In the proposed changes, the EPA now recognizes used tires as “partly biogenic.”

For facilities that combust tires, separate reporting of biogenic CO2 emissions is optional. Measurement of biogenic CO2 is to be done via ASTM D6866. [Page 79109] of the MRR Proposed Changes]