MBDC Launches Cradle-To-Cradle Ingredient Certification

The consultancy agency founded by the authors of the well-known book on sustainability, Cradle to Cradle, have launched a Cradle to Cradle Approved Ingredient certification.

McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry, LLC (MBDC) said the new certification will assesses the
sustainability of product ingredients for human and environmental
health, as well as their recyclability or compostability.

"The Cradle to Cradle Approved Ingredient certification makes it easier at the design stage to create ecologically-intelligent products by choosing materials that meet key sustainability criteria for material health and material reutilization" said Jay Bolus, Vice President of Technical Operations for MBDC.

The Cradle to Cradle Approved Ingredient designation is the second certification program developed by MBDC, which initially set out to identify end-products that met a series of environmental criteria.

To qualify for the designation, an ingredient must meet the "Gold" level criteria for material health and material reutilization, meaning it can be placed into either the technical cycle or biological cycle and not contain chemicals that are problematic for human or environmental health.

MBDC’s Ingredient certification is open to all manufacturers that make chemicals, materials or substances used in finished goods. Material assessments are conducted by an in-house team of scientists and project managers.

MBDC was founded in 1995 by internationally recognized architect/designer William McDonough together with Dr. Michael Braungart, as a strategic environmental consulting and design firm, dedicated to revolutionizing the design of products and services worldwide by applying the Cradle to Cradle(SM) design framework to eliminate the concept of waste. McDonough and Braungart are co-authors of the book Cradle to Cradle – Remaking the Way We Make Things, published in 2002 by NorthPoint Press.