WASHINGTON -- USDA BioPreferred® program will continue its new online seminar series with “Biobased Products in Operations, Maintenance, and Cleaning”, on December 6 from 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm EST.  The hour-long, 

no-cost seminar is designed to educate public and private sector facility management professionals, contractors, cleaning service personnel, manufacturers, suppliers, and vendors about integrating biobased products into Federal and Federal contractor operations, maintenance, and cleaning operations. .

The seminar will broadcast live by online streaming video to individual desktop computers and satellite downlink to Federal facilities. Experts Ed Murtagh, Sustainable Operations Manager at the USDA, and Bill Balek, Director of Environmental Services for ISSA, the Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association, will introduce BioPreferred operations, maintenance, and cleaning product categories; discuss how biobased products are currently used in Federal O&M and cleaning; offer examples of best practices; and review procurement mechanisms, tools and additional resources. USDA BioPreferred program Manager Ron Buckholt will introduce and moderate the program. A live Q&A segment with the experts will follow the presentation and allow viewers to e-mail or call in questions. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's BioPreferred program launched a new USDA biobased product certification and labeling program this year to better inform consumers' purchasing decisions and help manufacturers—including those in the cleaning industry—market biobased products. Currently, over 25 percent of labeled products are cleaning-related products. The seminar will familiarize private and public sector professionals with the BioPreferred  program as it relates to this emerging market.

To learn more about this free program, including how to obtain CEU credit for participation, visit here.