Issue 04/2016

Toys
PHA resins
for toys
Within just a few years it will be possible to give
all children eco-sustainable, biodegradable safe
toys free from toxic substances. In the future this
will be normal but in order to make this future arrive as
soon as possible researchers are developing new solutions
based on biopolymers that are capable of replicating
and improving the thermo-mechanical, functional and
aesthetic properties of the plastics in use today.
“With our new Supertoys bioplastic, we think we
can make a decisive contribution to the toys industry,”
Marco Astorri, Chairman of Bio-on told bioplastics
MAGAZINE. Bio‐on is an Italian company specialised in the
development of biopolymers “100 % biodegradable in
nature and made from renewable waste sources, without
any competition with food supply chains”, as Marco said.
This new special grade called Minerv PHA Supertoys has
been used for the first time in the manufacture of building
bricks. “Consumers around the world are now aware that
today’s plastic is not suitable for children,” explained
Marco Astorri, “You only have to read the thousands of
online forums to realise this enormous shift in opinion.
We know that these phenomena are unstoppable and it
is precisely for this reason that we launched the Minerv
PHA Supertoys project, which to date has no commercial
goal and aims solely to demonstrate whether or not
specific, eco-sustainable and completely biodegradable
formulations can be created for making toys that are safe
for children and the environment, without losing out on
the end product’s functionality and aesthetic. This is very
important for us: we want to introduce a new development
methodology that places commercial and financial aspects
on a secondary level, to be considered at a later stage, and
focuses instead on the social aspect of the innovation.”
Based on the Minerv PHA biopolymer developed by
Bio-on and already tested in dozens of applications, from
automotive to design to biomedical, Supertoys is safe,
hygienic and biodegradable, it meets and exceeds the
provisions of the recent European Directive 2009/48/EC,
known as the TSD (Toy Safety Directive), implemented
into the standard international procedure for toy safety
evaluation EN 71. The research project is open to all
laboratories and companies around the world working on
toy design and aims to create two types of bioplastic by
the end of 2017: Minerv PHA Supertoys type “R”, rigid and
strong, and Minerv PHA Supertoys type “F”, ductile and
flexible.
To demonstrate the characteristics of this innovative
material, LEGO ® -style stacking bricks in different colours
have been produced. “We chose this product,” explained
Mario Astorri, who founded Bio-on in 2007, “because it
is very hard to make. It has a tolerance of 2 thousandths
of a millimetre and the fact that we have succeeded in
guaranteeing such a high quality level gives us confidence
26 bioplastics MAGAZINE [04/16] Vol. 11