Houston, TX. December 12, 2024 — Rheom Materials, Inc. announced today that it has earned the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Certified Biobased Product Label for Shorai™.
Shorai is a biobased leather alternative that combines the luxurious feel and performance of traditional leather with sustainability. Extruded as a continuous sheet, Shorai is ideal for myriad applications, offering scalable production at a competitive price point. With earth-derived pigments and custom texture finishes, Shorai adds a unique touch to your biobased products.
The Shorai™ can now display a unique USDA label that highlights its percentage of biobased content. Third-party verification for a product's biobased content is administered through the USDA BioPreferred® Program, which strives to increase the development, purchase, and use of biobased products.
Biobased products help address climate change by offering renewable alternatives to petroleum-based products; sequester carbon dioxide, lowering the concentration of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere that contribute to climate change; create and expand markets; are generally safer for people and the environment than their petroleum-based counterparts; and represent incredible technological advances and innovations.
The USDA Certified Biobased Product Label displays a product's biobased content, which is the portion of a product that comes from a renewable source, such as plant, animal, marine, or forestry feedstocks. Utilizing renewable biobased materials displaces the need for non-renewable petroleum-based chemicals. Biobased products are cost-comparative, readily available, and perform as well as or better than their conventional counterparts.
“Obtaining the USDA Certified Biobased label is a symbol of trust. It helps us to guide our customers toward creating better products for our planet. This certification validates that Shorai™ contains 93% USDA certified biobased content, demonstrating our progress towards our ultimate commitment of producing a 100% biobased leather alternative.” – Carolina Amin Ferril
"We applaud Rheom Materials, Inc. for earning the USDA Certified Biobased Product Label," said Vernell Thompson, USDA BioPreferred Program. "The label is intended to help spur economic development, create new jobs, and provide new markets for farm commodities. But the label also makes it easier for consumers and federal buyers to locate biobased products and consider planet-friendlier options during purchase decisions. By having their products become USDA Certified Biobased, Rheom Materials, Inc. joins an expanding list of businesses combatting inaccurate marketing claims and the practice of greenwashing, while also contributing to a thriving bioeconomy that decreases our reliance on petroleum."
In the latest Economic Impact Report released by USDA, the biobased products industry supported 4.6 million American jobs; contributed $470 billion to the U.S. economy and generated 2.79 jobs in other sectors of the economy for every biobased job. Biobased products also have a substantial environmental impact, displacing about 9.4 million barrels of oil a year, with the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 12.7 million metric tons of CO2 equivalents per year.
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About Rheom Materials, Inc.:
Rheom Materials, formerly Bucha Bio, is pioneering next-gen materials by creating scalable, biobased alternatives that seamlessly replace fossil fuel-based plastics. Derived from bacterial fermentation, minerals, and plant-based matter, Rheom Materials produces two main products: Shorai, a biobased leather alternative, and Benree™, a biopolymer resin for injection molding. Their team of PhD scientists develops these materials for melt extrusion technology, allowing them to leverage existing plastics manufacturing and create economies of scale. Change your impact, not your life at https://www.rheom.com/
For more information please contact: Marlies Jongens, Branding & Marketing Coordinator, marliesjongens@rheom.com
About the USDA BioPreferred Program
With the goal of increasing the development, purchase, and use of biobased products, USDA's BioPreferred® Program was first introduced in the 2002 Farm Bill and reauthorized in 2018. It requires federal agencies and contractors to give purchasing preference to biobased products. The USDA BioPreferred Program also includes a voluntary certification and labeling initiative for biobased products. This is referred to as the USDA Certified Biobased Product Label.
More than 1,800 companies across the U.S. and in 47 countries participate in the Program. From farm and field all the way through the manufacturing process, the expanding market for biobased products creates jobs, supports rural economic growth in America, and has a positive impact on our planet. Have questions? Please contact: Vernell Thompson, USDA BioPreferred Program at Vernell.Thompson@usda.gov.
