Playmobil has selected Ineos Styrolution bio-based ABS and MBS bio-plastics for its entire Playmobil 1.2.3 portfolio, a range of toys for toddlers.
The German toy manufacturer announced it was making the switch from fossil-based to bioplastics in its toddler portfolio in February this year. It has now completed the production process conversion and has selected Ineos Styrolution’s plant-based materials as feedstock.
The new playsets will be produced with Ineos Styrolution’s bio-based ABS material called Terluran ECO GP-22 BC100. It incorporates 100% bio-attributed feedstock, meaning that all three conventional feedstock components in ABS (acrylonitrile monomer, butadiene, and styrene) are replaced by renewable feedstock attributed through an ISCC-certified mass balance approach.
“Terluran ECO GP-22 BC100 is a material with a neutral to even negative carbon footprint, when biogenic carbon is taken into account,” said Dr. Christian Ruthard, product manager ECO EMEA at Ineos Styrolution.
Transparent toy components are made with the MBS Zylar ECO 960 BC90, containing 90% bio-based attributed feedstock.
Ineos Styrolution launched its ECO B line of bio-attributed ABS resins in 2022, calling it "the final jigsaw piece" in its polystyrene and ABS portfolio, which since then consists of mechanically recycled and bio-attributed solutions for all three of the firm's products lines.
The company says all its bio-attributed products have identical physical and mechanical properties as their counterparts based on conventional feedstock.
“After successfully establishing several classic product lines to now use recycled and bio-based plastics, converting the production of our toddler line is another important step on our ambitious sustainability agenda,” said Playmobil CEO Bahri Kurter.
It is the first time a major toy manufacturer offers a complete product segment using at least 90% bio-attributed plastics.
Playmobil’s switch comes after Lego ditched plans to make bricks from recycled PET, saying that changes to its manufacturing equipment would have led to higher overall carbon footprint over the product’s lifetime.