McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (
MBDC) is taking its Cradle to Cradle analysis further down the product supply chain with its new Cradle to Cradle Approved Ingredient certification.
The new certification looks at the chemical components of ingredients and materials that will be in finished products, assessing their effects on human and environmental health, as well as their ability to be recycled or composted.
This is MBDC's second certification program. The first Cradle to Cradle certification is for final products, and the Cradle to Cradle label can now be found on about 200 products, including chairs, workstation components, whiteboards, roofing tiles, pallets, mailing envelopes, flooring, fabrics and more. Products can receive one of four levels of certification: basic, silver, gold and platinum.
The Approved Ingredient certification applies the 19 Cradle to Cradle health and environmental health criteria to materials, investigating their heavy metal content, toxicity, biodegradability and other factors. To achieve certification, an ingredient must meet the gold level of certification, meaning it can be placed into either the technical cycle (like recycling) or biological cycle and not contain chemicals that are problematic for human or environmental health.
Just as all Cradle to Cradle certified products are
listed publicly, MBDC plans to provide a public database of certified ingredients.
