4 Ways U.S. Soy Is Making Business Sustainable

Checkoff-Funded Tools Help Manufacturers Meet Standards

These days, a growing number of companies are making “sustainability” a major business priority. Whether it’s to make sure raw materials will be available to keep their manufacturing plants running, or to reassure curious consumers about where and how product ingredients are sourced, companies across the supply chain are taking steps to define and measure what sustainability means to their businesses.

For many manufacturers, setting sustainability metrics can be like learning a new language…one that farmers have been speaking fluently for more than a decade. As stewards of the land, U.S. soybean farmers have become adept at measuring, reporting and adapting sustainability processes and have a long, proven history of what works, and why.

Knowledge gained during years of soy-checkoff-supported research on new uses, and investing in tools like the Lifecycle Assessment and the U.S. Soybean Sustainability Assurance Protocol are now providing soybean farmers with a competitive business advantage. Because as other commodity suppliers scramble to fit into new standards, soybean farmers continue to set them and create a preference and thriving demand for U.S. soy in products ranging from foam mattresses to football field turf. Check out four examples of how soy is helping businesses become more sustainable:

1. Lifecycle Profile Sells IKEA on Soy for Mattresses

Five years ago, when farmers funded an independent Lifecycle Profile not many manufacturers were interested in the impact raw materials have on manufacturing processes and the environment. They are now.

IKEA, the world’s largest furniture manufacturer, uses foam made of 15 percent U.S. soy polyols in two different mattress lines that are available in U.S. stores and online. The company plans to manufacture and market the foam mattresses throughout the world and is looking for more ways to incorporate soy into other products.

Several years ago, IKEA developed a code of conduct for suppliers that establish minimum requirements relating to the environment. An independent Lifecycle Profile developed with checkoff funding, showed IKEA how replacing petroleum-based material in the foam with soy polyols could enable the foam supplier to significantly reduce CO2 emissions.

2. Soy-based Alternatives Help Phase Out Phthalates in Plastics

In addition to having a name that defies spellcheck, phthalates—the chemicals in plastics that keep them soft and flexible—have been troubling product manufacturers for more than a decade.

Concerns over the potential of phthalates to disrupt hormones and cause reproductive abnormalities in humans prompted the U.S. and Europe to prohibit the use of DEHP, one of the most heavily regulated phthalate esters, in children’s products. Apple, Inc. took phthalates out of earbud and power cord cables in 2013, and Home Depot and Lowe’s have promised to remove them from flooring by the end of this year.

Checkoff-funded research has helped PolyOne Corporation, CHS, Inc., and Galata Chemicals develop soy-based substitutes that are set to keep phthalates out of toys, vinyl products and even food packaging.

Whether or not health concerns about phthalates prove to be true, the move away from them by manufacturers is being heralded by Chemical and Engineering News as a major opportunity for chemical substitutes, including soy. Which translates into a major sales opportunity for U.S. soybean farmers.

3. SYNLawn Saves Water with Soy

Farmers know the western United States is no place to plant soybeans. However despite the lack of water…or in this case, because of it…soy is cropping up in barren landscapes from the desert sands to the pacific shore.

Unlike its crop of origin, there are no green leaves or golden seeds in this soy. It’s part of a soy-based backing called BioCel™, manufactured by Universal Textile Technologies for SYNLawn, using technology developed with checkoff support. Based on Underwriters Laboratories (UL) third-party verification, soybean oil displaces 60 percent of the petroleum-based polyurethane in BioCel.

In addition to reducing reliance on petroleum, using SYNLawn helps homeowners, businesses and the government meet water-reduction requirements, including a new Executive Order from President Obama, mandating a 2 percent annual reduction of water used for industrial, landscaping and agricultural consumption each year. Which explains why it is taking the West Coast by storm.

How much water can soy-based SYNLawn save? In Las Vegas, the average homeowner uses 73 gallons of water per square foot of lawn grass annually – the equivalent of 10 feet of rainfall, according to Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) Conservation Manager Doug Bennett.  That’s why the region has been aggressive about water-saving solutions since 1999.

The Water Smart Landscapes program, which provides cash incentives to homeowners who replace ornamental lawns with more efficient landscapes, has converted nearly 4,000 acres – 173 million square feet – of lawn space. That’s enough to cover nearly 3,000 football fields, according to SNWA.

4. Uniboard Builds Business with Soy Technology

After the U.S. government identified formaldehyde as a possible carcinogen, researchers rushed to find a cost-effective alternative. With checkoff support, Ashland Inc. mixed protein-rich soy flour with a resin to produce Soyad™ adhesives.

This technology has now gone viral and has inspired other companies, like Uniboard, a leading supplier of wood composites, to take it a step further. It created a particleboard from soy-based adhesive and recycled wood that completely eliminates formaldehyde exposure.