Issue 02/2017

Application News
Environment-friendly toy blocks
The Chinese toy company BanBao is committed to build
a better tomorrow, and for this reason will start producing
sustainable and environment-friendly building blocks made
of new biobased materials. The educational toy brand with
its headquarters in Shantou (Province Guangdong), China will
start its production near Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The
new eco-friendly toy line will be called BioBuddi.
Regulators increasingly warn of unsafe toys that fail to
meet safety requirements. The controls have been tightened
with more recalls as a result. The desire for environmentfriendly
and safer toys is greater among parents, according
to research.
Steven van Bommel (CEO BanBao Europe, Venlo, The
Netherlands) explains: “Almost any regular plastic building
block toy used until now, even ours is made from petrochemicals
(ABS or PP). Conventional plastic toys rely on increasingly
scarce resources and in the process of being manufactured
they cause between 2 - 7 times their own weight in greenhouse
gases to be emitted into
our atmosphere.
“Our new ‘green’ biobased
building blocks
contain 0 % oil-based chemicals,
because our raw
materials are derived
from plants.” The BanBao
toy blocks will be made from 100 % biobased PE (Green PE
from sugar cane), as Steven told bioplastics MAGAZINE.
“We also do not add any oil-based chemicals during the
manufacturing process to ‘enhance’ the performance or
colour of our product. The packaging (FSC Certified paper),
stickers (Green PE), instructions and glue will also be 100 %
biobased. The quality of the building blocks has amazed us,
the blocks perfectly fits to our non-biobased building blocks
and those of the competition. Even the price can compete
against the competition, mainly using ABS and PP plastics as
its basic raw material. It is an exciting project that can have a
positive impact on the planet and can change the toy industry,”
says Steven van Bommel.
The new product line is developed in collaboration with
Biopromotions, a dutch company which specializes in
products made of biodegradable and biobased plastics. Robert
de Waal (CEO Biopromotions) is very pleased about the new
partnership; “BanBao was looking for an alternative ‘green’
raw material for making their toy bricks. Soon they came into
contact with us. Our knowledge has grown enormously over
the years and we accepted the challenge.”
The sustainable and environmental friendly product line will
consist of over 13 toy boxes suitable for children in the age
of 1,5 to 6 years old. The new BioBuddi product line will be
available in stores in the autumn of 2017. MT
www.banbao.com
Organic 3.0 natural cosmetics in bio-PE bottles
The German company SPEICK natural cosmetics
(Leinfeldern-Echterdingen, Germany) has recently been
awarded the Best New Product Award at VIVANESS 2017
(International Trade Fair for Natural and Organic Personal
Care, February 2017 Nuremberg,Germany) in the Body Care
category for their brand new Organic 3.0 body lotion.
The palm oil free formula that is easily biodegradable and
has a recyclable structure won over the trade professionals
completely at the world’s leading trade fair for natural
cosmetics. And - it is packaged in bottles made of renewable
materials.
The lotion is COSMOS certified and features an
extremely soft, velvety texture, a subtle, pleasant scent and
environmental values. Energised water and organic rye flour
ferment complete the detox formula.
VIVANESS bestows the Best New Product Award every
year at the international trade fair for natural and organic
cosmetics in Nuremberg, Germany.
“Organic 3.0 stands for concepts that promote sustainability,
foster growth without sacrificing quality and enhance our
credibility among our customer base. An additional objective
is to create a firmer footing for ecological farming and its
principles as a model for the development of a sustainable
agricultural and food sector;” Says Anke Boy; Marketing and
Product Management at Speick.
The bottle material for the Organic 3.0 body lotion as well
as the shower gel is made fom Green PE, a 100 % biobased
polyethylene made from sugar cane. The sugar cane is grown
in Brazil in the context of sustainable resource- and socialmanagement
ProForest.
Speick is a family business with a history of more than 85
years. They are proud to source their raw ingredients and
packaging primarily from the own country. Now in the third
generation, the company develops and produces exclusively
at their German premises. MT
www.speick.de
42 bioplastics MAGAZINE [02/17] Vol. 12