Soy is a renewable alternative to petroleum-based products.
Across the nation, U.S. companies now offer hundreds of biobased products, ranging from cleaning supplies to carpet backing to energy efficient roofing materials, made with ingredients grown right here on American farms. Each year, U.S. soybean growers plant about 75 million acres of soybeans, offering an abundant and rapidly renewable source of ingredients that are helping revitalize U.S. manufacturing.
Consumers win with product choices that can curb dependence on foreign oil as well as reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Soy biobased products can also offer environmental and health benefits, such as lower VOCs, less exposure to toxic chemicals as well as irritation from odors, and more.
Soy Biobased Products Support:
Economic Growth
Soybeans came to the American colonies from China around 1765. Today, the United States produces approximately 35 percent of the world’s soybeans, and they boost America’s trade balance.
Energy Security
In the early 1900s, George Washington Carver began studying the uses for soybeans at Tuskegee Institute. He also collaborated on research with Henry Ford who believed it would be possible to grow a car.
Environment & Worker Health
A partnership between America’s soybean farmers and the Sherwin-Williams Company received the 2011 Presidential Green Chemistry Award from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The honor recognizes the development of an innovative new paint formulation that utilizes soybean oil and recycled plastic bottles (PET) and reduces volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by 60 percent.