The new Internet celebrity can reach the toy industry behind the duck. Barbie dolls and Lego blocks are all transforming this material!

TK Bio-based Materials reported that recently, following Lingna Belle and Bing Dun Dun, many post-90s childhood Ducks are also on fire! A few days ago, KFC cooperated with Pokémon to customize the Da Duck IP toy.
The simple play Da Duck music box quickly became the new favorite of young people through the fermentation of the network platform
.

Da Duck is popular on Douyin

In fact, the cute and cute Da Duck is made of LDPE material, which is a kind of PE polyethylene
.
In addition to PE materials, ABS, PP, PVC and other materials are also commonly used materials for children's toys
.
According to statistics, the application scale of PP polypropylene materials in the toy industry is the largest, at about 800,000 tons
.

ABS is the main material for splicing building blocks

PVC can be hard or soft.
Those animal models in toys that feel both soft and hard are made of PVC.

However, the possible safety threats of traditional plastics used in toys have also attracted attention from various countries.
For example, the benzene-based plasticizers used in toys have been banned abroad because of their toxicity to humans, and China has also issued a series of restrictive laws
.
In addition, the proposal of dual carbon and sustainable development goals also puts forward new requirements for the innovation of materials in the toy industry
.

Traditional toy manufacturers, such as Mattel Group, which holds the IP of Barbie dolls, and Lego, a building block manufacturer, have been criticized for using a lot of plastic, and announced that they will be committed to sustainable and safe material applications
.
Recycled plastics, bio-based materials become their best choice
.
McDonald's, which was a complete loss in the Duck IP, also announced that it would reduce traditional plastic applications by 90% in gift toys
.

Let's take a look at the application of bio-based materials in toys!

1.
Popcorn as a toy

Scientists at the University of Göttingen have long been investigating sustainable and efficient processes for making products from popcorn granules
.
These products have many uses: from packaging to insulation boards for building insulation
.
Now, in partnership with renowned German toy maker Loick, the university plans to use the technology in the future to make toys, furniture, sports and fitness equipment, as well as children's car seats and headrests
.

Loick has been producing sustainable toys for more than 20 years as part of the PlayMais brand, after German toy PlayMais, which made clay from all-natural corn, which is 100% biodegradable
.

The license from the University of Göttingen will allow the company to expand its toy range in the future to include larger compression-molded popcorn-based crafts

"This new process, based on technology used in the plastics industry, can now be used as a cost-effective way to produce new sustainable children's toys or sports and fitness equipment, as well as industrial-scale furniture," explains Professor Alireza Kharazipour, Columbia Head of the Research Group for Chemical and Process Engineering of Composite Materials at the University of Tingen
.
"Especially for the furniture industry, this can ensure that alternatives to natural materials other than plastic, even particleboard and fibreboard, are no longer just niche products
.
"

2.
Mattel Group Barbie, bio-based PP material, recycled material

The world's leading US toy company, Mattel, has chosen a partnership with petrochemical giant SABIC to integrate certified renewable polymers into Mattel's products
.
The first toys using certified renewable SABIC® PP (polypropylene) have hit the market in 2022, with more to follow
.
 

All Action Driver playsets and Matchbox Recycling Trucks from the Matchbox brand are known to contain SABIC materials
.
Mattel's corporate goal is to have all Matchbox die-cast cars, playsets and packaging be composed of 100% recycled, renewable bio-based plastic materials by 2030
.

Lada Kurelec, general manager of Sabic PP products, said: "This partnership with Mattel is an important step forward in providing our customers with materials that help reduce their carbon footprint in a wide range of consumer markets, a pioneer in the toy industry
.
" , Mattel has also used recycled ocean plastic as the main raw material for toys
.

3.
McDonald's toys to reduce traditional plastic by 90% by 2025

From Snoopy and Power Rangers to Hot Wheels and Pokemon, McDonald's has long brought joy to its kid-friendly toys at the iconic Happy Meal
.
Now, Golden Arches is taking an earth-friendly step towards using sustainable materials to reduce plastic
.

During Climate Week 2021, McDonald's announced its goal to make every toy in every Happy Meal sold globally more sustainable by the end of 2025 and reduce conventional plastics by 90%, thereby reducing fossil fuel consumption.
Demand for fuel plastic production
.

McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski holds a Happy Meal toy made from more sustainable materials in Chicago on August 13, 2021

"The transition to making toys from more renewable, recycled or certified materials will reduce the use of virgin fossil fuel-based plastics by about 90%, which is almost the population of Washington, D.
C.
, eliminating plastic from their lives within a year.

.
" McDonald's said
.

4.
Lego bio-based PE, recycled PET

Founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen, LEGO has become one of the world's leading toy brands
.
This is thanks in part to the durability of the iconic brick
.
Since 1963, most of the billions of Lego bricks produced each year have been made from acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plastic
.

But finding a material that is as durable as traditional ABS blocks has proven difficult for toy makers
.

LEGO Group head Brooks said: “We know kids care about the environment and want us to make our products more sustainable
.
Although it will be a while before they can play with bricks made from recycled plastic, we want to give kids Knowing we're working on it, and letting them go on a journey with us
.
Experimentation and failure are a big part of learning and innovation
.
Just as kids build, take apart, and rebuild from LEGOs at home, we're in the lab do the same thing
.
”

But LEGO recently announced that it will abandon its original petroleum-based plastic by 2030
.
To this end, LEGO uses PET as a material instead of ABS, because PET material has a higher recycling rate, and on average, a 1-liter plastic PET bottle can provide enough raw material for ten 2 x 4 LEGO bricks
.
LEGO's patent-pending material formula increases the durability of the PET, making it strong enough to make LEGO bricks
.
The innovative process combines recycled PET with reinforcing additives using custom compounding technology
.

In addition to recycled PET materials, in 2018, LEGO began producing bio-polyethylene (bio-PE) toy parts made from sustainably sourced sugar cane
.
Bio-PE is great for making smaller, softer parts such as minifigure trees, branches, leaves and accessories
.
Bio-PE is currently not suitable for making harder, stronger parts, such as the iconic LEGO bricks
.

Lego elements made from plants

Lego said that in addition to material innovations, sustainable Lego in other areas is also very concerned
.
By 2022, the LEGO Group will invest up to $400 million over three years to accelerate its sustainability goals
.