ACT - Label Definitions
Assembly Product: A product made of component manufactured parts.
Biobased
- Renewable/Bio-based Material: A commercial or industrial product (other than food or feed) that is composed of biological products, including renewable domestic agricultural materials and forestry materials.
- Rapidly Renewable: Agricultural products, derived from both plant and animal sources, which take ten years or less to harvest.
Biodegradable: A marketer making an unqualified degradable claim should have competent and reliable scientific evidence that the entire item will completely break down and return to nature (i.e., decompose into elements found in nature) within a reasonably short period of time after customary disposal. It is deceptive to make an unqualified degradable claim for items entering the solid waste stream if the items do not completely decompose within one year after customary disposal. Unqualified degradable claims for items that are customarily disposed in landfills, incinerators, and recycling facilities are deceptive because these locations do not present conditions in which complete decomposition will occur within one year.
Chemical: A specific type of consumable, a chemical is commonly defined as a compound or substance that has been purified or prepared, especially artificially. For the purposes of the ACT label, reagents will also fall under the definition of ‘chemicals’. Both chemicals and reagents are consumed during the course of an experiment, and may be completely used up during the process.
Chemical Abstract Services Registration Number (CAS RN, CAS Registry Number, CAS Number): A unique numerical identifier assigned by the Chemical Abstracts Service to every chemical described in the open scientific literature of elements, chemicals compounds, polymers and other substances.
Compostable: A marketer claiming that an item is compostable should have competent and reliable scientific evidence that all the materials in the item will break down into, or otherwise become part of, usable compost (e.g., soil-conditioning material, mulch) in a safe and timely manner (i.e., in approximately the same time as the materials with which it is composted) in an appropriate composting facility, or in a home compost pile or device.
Consumable: A product that is intended to be used, discarded, and replaced (i.e. disposable), or is treated as such in common practice.
Equipment: Equipment is generally defined as a necessary item for a particular purpose. In the case of the ACT label, all products meeting this definition that are not classified as consumables or chemicals will be classified as equipment. Equipment is an assembly product.
Global Harmonized System: GHS stands for the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals. GHS defines and classifies the hazards of chemical products, and communicates health and safety information on labels and safety data sheets). The goal is that the same set of rules for classifying hazards, and the same format and content for labels and safety data sheets (SDS) will be adopted and used around the world. An international team of hazard communication experts developed GHS.
GreenScreen: Short for GreenScreen for Safer Chemicals, a method for comparative chemical hazard assessment. It is used to assess the inherent hazards of chemicals and their potential effect on human health and the environment. The foundation of the GreenScreen method is the Principles of Green Chemistry and the work of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Design for the Environment (DfE) and GHS hazard thresholds.
Made in USA: For a product to be called Made in USA, or claimed to be of domestic origin without qualifications or limits on the claim, the product must be "all or virtually all" made in the U.S. The term "United States," as referred to in the Enforcement Policy Statement, includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories and possessions.
"All or virtually all" means that all significant parts and processing that go into the product must be of U.S. origin. That is, the product should contain no — or negligible — foreign content
The product’s final assembly or processing must take place in the U.S. The Commission then considers other factors, including how much of the product’s total manufacturing costs can be assigned to U.S. parts and processing, and how far removed any foreign content is from the finished product. In some instances, only a small portion of the total manufacturing costs are attributable to foreign processing, but that processing represents a significant amount of the product’s overall processing. The same could be true for some foreign parts. In these cases, the foreign content (processing or parts) is more than negligible, and, as a result, unqualified claims are inappropriate
"All or virtually all" means that all significant parts and processing that go into the product must be of U.S. origin. That is, the product should contain no — or negligible — foreign content
The product’s final assembly or processing must take place in the U.S. The Commission then considers other factors, including how much of the product’s total manufacturing costs can be assigned to U.S. parts and processing, and how far removed any foreign content is from the finished product. In some instances, only a small portion of the total manufacturing costs are attributable to foreign processing, but that processing represents a significant amount of the product’s overall processing. The same could be true for some foreign parts. In these cases, the foreign content (processing or parts) is more than negligible, and, as a result, unqualified claims are inappropriate
Recipe Product: A product made according to a prescribed mixture of chemicals. Recipe products may be either consumables or chemicals.
Recyclable: A product or associated component that can be diverted from the waste stream through available recycling infrastructure. These products can be collected, processed and returned to use in the form of raw materials or other products.
It is deceptive to misrepresent, directly or by implication, that a product or package is recyclable. A product or package should not be marketed as recyclable unless it can be collected, separated, or otherwise recovered from the waste stream through an established recycling program for reuse or use in manufacturing or assembling another item. 23 (b) Marketers should clearly and prominently qualify recyclable claims to the extent necessary to avoid deception about the availability of recycling programs and collection sites to consumers. (1) When recycling facilities are available to a substantial majority of consumers or communities where the item is sold, marketers can make unqualified recyclable claims. The term “substantial majority,” as used in this context, means at least 60 percent.
It is deceptive to misrepresent, directly or by implication, that a product or package is recyclable. A product or package should not be marketed as recyclable unless it can be collected, separated, or otherwise recovered from the waste stream through an established recycling program for reuse or use in manufacturing or assembling another item. 23 (b) Marketers should clearly and prominently qualify recyclable claims to the extent necessary to avoid deception about the availability of recycling programs and collection sites to consumers. (1) When recycling facilities are available to a substantial majority of consumers or communities where the item is sold, marketers can make unqualified recyclable claims. The term “substantial majority,” as used in this context, means at least 60 percent.
Recycled Content
It is deceptive to represent, directly or by implication, that an item contains recycled content unless it is composed of materials that have been recovered or otherwise diverted from the waste stream, either during the manufacturing process (pre-consumer), or after consumer use (post-consumer). If the source of recycled content includes pre-consumer material, the advertiser should have substantiation that the pre-consumer material would otherwise have entered the waste stream. Recycled content claims may – but do not have to – distinguish between pre-consumer and post-consumer materials. Where a marketer distinguishes between pre-consumer and post-consumer materials, it should have substantiation for any express or implied claim about the percentage of pre-consumer or post-consumer content in an item. (c) Marketers can make unqualified claims of recycled content if the entire product or package, excluding minor, incidental components, is made from recycled material. For items that are partially made of recycled material, the marketer should clearly and prominently qualify 28 the claim to avoid deception about the amount or percentage, by weight, of recycled content in the finished product or package.
- Recycled Content: Comprised of pre-consumer and/or post-consumer material that is used as a raw material in the manufacture of products.
- Pre-Consumer Recycled Content: Material diverted from the waste stream during a manufacturing process. Excluded is reutilization of materials such as rework, regrind or scrap generated in a process and capable of being reclaimed with the same process that generated it.
- Post-Consumer Recycled Content: Material generated by households or by commercial, industrial and institutional facilities in their role as end-users of the product which can no longer be used for its intended purpose. This includes returns of material from the distribution chain.
It is deceptive to represent, directly or by implication, that an item contains recycled content unless it is composed of materials that have been recovered or otherwise diverted from the waste stream, either during the manufacturing process (pre-consumer), or after consumer use (post-consumer). If the source of recycled content includes pre-consumer material, the advertiser should have substantiation that the pre-consumer material would otherwise have entered the waste stream. Recycled content claims may – but do not have to – distinguish between pre-consumer and post-consumer materials. Where a marketer distinguishes between pre-consumer and post-consumer materials, it should have substantiation for any express or implied claim about the percentage of pre-consumer or post-consumer content in an item. (c) Marketers can make unqualified claims of recycled content if the entire product or package, excluding minor, incidental components, is made from recycled material. For items that are partially made of recycled material, the marketer should clearly and prominently qualify 28 the claim to avoid deception about the amount or percentage, by weight, of recycled content in the finished product or package.
Red List: Created and published by the International Living Future Institute, The Red List contains the worst in class materials prevalent in the building industry (as well as other industries). The commonly-used chemicals on the Red List are:
-Polluting the environment
-Bio-accumulating up the food chain until they reach toxic concentrations
-Harming workers and end users
You can find the full Red List, here.
-Polluting the environment
-Bio-accumulating up the food chain until they reach toxic concentrations
-Harming workers and end users
You can find the full Red List, here.
Renewable Energy: Energy generated through passive solar, photovoltaics, solar thermal, wind turbines, water-powered microturbines, direct geothermal or fuel cells powered by hydrogen generated from renewably powered electrolysis. Nuclear energy is not an acceptable option.
It is deceptive to make an unqualified “made with renewable energy” claim unless all, or virtually all, of the significant manufacturing processes involved in making the product or package are powered with renewable energy or non-renewable energy matched by renewable energy certificates. When this is not the case, marketers should clearly and prominently specify 33 the percentage of renewable energy that powered the significant manufacturing processes involved in making the product or package. (d) If a marketer generates renewable electricity but sells renewable energy certificates for all of that electricity, it would be deceptive for the marketer to represent, directly or by implication, that it uses renewable energy.
It is deceptive to make an unqualified “made with renewable energy” claim unless all, or virtually all, of the significant manufacturing processes involved in making the product or package are powered with renewable energy or non-renewable energy matched by renewable energy certificates. When this is not the case, marketers should clearly and prominently specify 33 the percentage of renewable energy that powered the significant manufacturing processes involved in making the product or package. (d) If a marketer generates renewable electricity but sells renewable energy certificates for all of that electricity, it would be deceptive for the marketer to represent, directly or by implication, that it uses renewable energy.