{"id":6264,"date":"2021-01-22T12:31:17","date_gmt":"2021-01-22T12:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/?p=6264"},"modified":"2025-12-04T17:20:32","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T17:20:32","slug":"are-bioplastic-toys-eco-friendly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/2021\/01\/22\/are-bioplastic-toys-eco-friendly\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Bioplastic Toys Eco-Friendly?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This is actually a complex question, that needs breaking down. Firstly, bioplastic is a material that will last for hundreds of years, so not something that should ever be bought with the idea of throwing it away in a couple of years and certainly not after one use.\u00a0 Secondly, you can\u2019t throw bioplastic away in the recycling, because no one is recycling bioplastic at the moment, and if you do throw it in with the plastic recycling, it will ruin the whole batch.\u00a0 So it can only be burnt or thrown in landfill at the end of its use \u2013 unless it can be repurposed. So first response, is \u201cno\u201d, its not a sustainable material to make toys from, currently.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-6266 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/bioplastic-toys-e1611318663375.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"382\" height=\"226\" \/>Some companies are undoubtedly using bio-plastic as an eco product to increase their sales, and maybe even to increase the price, my opinion is that this is not ethical, in my opinion its \u201cgreen-wash\u201d.\u00a0 When companies say products \u201cCan be recycled\u201d that is an \u201cin theory\u201d comment, mostly not born out in practice. No one that I know is separating bio-plastic waste \u00a0from oil based plastic in order to throw it away. Do you have a bio-plastic recycling facility in your location?<\/p>\n<p>However, lets look at this in more detail. What are bioplastics \u00a0made of, where and how? \u00a0Can it be recycled or reused, perhaps sent back to the manufacturers to re-use?<\/p>\n<h4>A Bit More About Bioplastic<\/h4>\n<p>Bioplastic is not made of oil, which is good because as we know, oil is a finite resource, once its gone its gone, so its better not to use oil for anything that we don\u2019t absolutely have to.\u00a0 Plus when we burn any kind of plastic it produces carbon dioxide, which is \u00a0causing damaging climate change, so we don\u2019t want to do that, however we can burn it more safely in a commercial incinerator that prevents the gas escape, so its not a total disaster. Growing anything is good for oxygen production and absorbing carbon dioxide,\u00a0 and that includes the products made into bioplastic, its just the making it into the bioplastic and what happens when we don\u2019t want it any more that is the problem!\u00a0 There are\u00a0 better things to grow however than product for bioplastics, such as food, and more effective carbon dioxide absorbers like trees.<\/p>\n<p>Bioplastics can be made from a large number of products such as sugar, corn, vegetable oil, recycled food waste, and also agricultural by-products, even plastic bottles and other containers.\u00a0 They may not be 100% bioplastics.\u00a0 So if you want to check the product you are thinking of buying then you need to find out what the bioplastic it is being made from.\u00a0 I would try and avoid a bioplastic that is:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Made of\u00a0<strong>food<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 that should be eaten not make into plastic. \u00a0(food waste is better)<\/li>\n<li>Grown in areas that should be\u00a0<strong>rain forest<\/strong>\u00a0or trees \u2013 we shouldn\u2019t be cutting down trees, they make more oxygen than sugar etc. plus they provide habitats for animals and insects.<\/li>\n<li>Plants that have been doused in\u00a0<strong>pesticides, herbicides, hormones, carcinogenics<\/strong>\u00a0etc. that could be toxic if put into plastic that our children then handle and put in their mouths but may also be responsible for\u00a0<strong>extinction of species<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Can We Trust The Labelling of Bioplastic Products?<\/h4>\n<p>Do we trust the labelling \u2013 because if the manufacturer is touting bioplastic as the eco choice, when it is SO far from perfect, how can we believe the rest?<\/p>\n<p>Some manufacturers do expand on their labelling on their website, for example Dantoy from Denmark say:<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-6267 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/bioplastic-coffee-toy-kit-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"294\" height=\"294\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cManufacture of bioplastics reduces carbon emissions. \u201c I would ask compared to what?\u00a0 Do they mean they use less electricity to mould it than oil made plastic?\u00a0 Do they have evidence for that?\u00a0 Certainly not less carbon emissions than wooden or bamboo toys?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSugarcane is cultivated on controlled, pesticide-free plantations in central and southern Brazil\u201d\u00a0 SO pesticides, and rain forest damage, and food \u2013 3 bad points.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter they are used these products can be 100% recycled\u201d \u2013 they can, but they aren\u2019t, another bad claim. Do Dantoy make ANY effort to get their products back at end of use to recycle or any advice on where to recycle them?\u00a0 Not that I can see on their website, but I would be delighted if they could prove me wrong.\u00a0 What is even worse is that they have used the circular economy style diagram on their website so it looks like they are engaged in circular economy (reusing of resources indefinitely), but they aren\u2019t.\u00a0 Looks like deliberate misinformation to me, there is no life cycle, this is make a product, and chuck it in landfill actually made to look like it\u2019s a good thing, a really bad point and now I distrust the company.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSugarcane transported by train \u2013 more eco-friendly than lorries\u201d- that depends on what the trains or lorries are being fuelled by surely, and how far are they going?\u00a0 And what about the transfers from train station to factories?\u00a0 And how do they get to Denmark and then to the UK? \u00a0How are they distributed in the UK \u2013 in diesel trucks perhaps?\u00a0 Hydrogen trains and lorries are better, renewable electricity is better.\u00a0 Maybe I\u2019m nitpicking, but is this really a selling point for Dantoy?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToys are made from 90% bioplastic\u201d \u2013 so what is the rest?\u00a0 That bit is the bit that could compromise whether the product can be melted down and made into more toys, or not, but if Dantoy, and others really wanted to be eco sustainable, they would have a \u201creturn to manufacturer policy\u201d so that they could ensure they are recycled at end of life, whether from breakage, or unwanted, they could \u201cpromote repairs and broken part replacement\u201d so their lives could be extended, \u00a0they could make an effort to re-sell second hand or even hire toys. \u00a0\u00a0That would be real circular economy.<\/p>\n<p>The recycled cardboard boxes look good, just make sure the cardboard does go in the recycling and is recycled by your bin collectors, and that bit is OK<\/p>\n<h4>Should Nurseries and Parents Buy Plastic Toys?<\/h4>\n<p>Just out of interest, we can\u2019t have toys made out of recycled plastic of any sort (bioplastic or oil based plastic) \u00a0because of the chemicals added during manufacture for colour, flexibility, strength etc. \u2013 unless manufacturers can access just one sort of plastic, maybe a particular bottle, that they know contains nothing that could be toxic.\u00a0 But they could be made into fencing, outside furniture, crates, bags etc. that aren\u2019t at risk of going in children\u2019s mouths, although any plastic left in the environment will likely produce microplastics and wear and tear will put microplastics into our air, soil and water \u2013 it really would be better if we didn\u2019t make plastic to use for anything but essential use because we don\u2019t deal with it safely or effectively when we\u2019ve finished with it \u2013 yet.\u00a0 Should nurseries and parents buy plastic toys (whether bio or oil) \u2013 are they essential? \u00a0I would suggest not, but if you have them already, don\u2019t throw them in any bin.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m not a scientist, and I would be very happy if Dantoy or other manufacturers can prove me wrong so we can buy them for the children, but currently, no, our group of nurseries will not be buying any new Dantoy Bio-plastic toys.\u00a0 On the banned list.\u00a0 Happy to buy second hand\/nearly new though \u2013 \u00a0to keep them from going in the bin and stop them being wasted.\u00a0 They look lovely.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h2>By Cheryl Hadland<\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is actually a complex question, that needs breaking down. Firstly, bioplastic is a material that will last for hundreds of years, so not something that should ever be bought with the idea of throwing it away in a couple of years and certainly not after one use.\u00a0 Secondly, you can\u2019t throw bioplastic away in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":6273,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environmental-sustainability"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6264"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13290,"href":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6264\/revisions\/13290"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}