Bioplastics which are made from renewable waste plant sources, with no competition with food supply chains, and are 100% naturally biodegradable. The final phase testing Minerv PHA Supertoys for making scale models has begun, launched by Bio-on in collaboration with Italeri, the leading manufacturer of static models. The results will be presented in February 2017 in Nuremberg, Germany during the “Play and toys fair”, the sector’s largest and most prestigious event.
Testing is applied to specific areas of Italeri’s vast offer, such as its toy soldiers (3 cm tall) which require extreme precision. The tests run thus far have been positive and the two companies confirm the goal of producing the world’s first scale models made of the special grade Minerv PHA Supertoys, the new type of bioplastic developed by Bio-on’s laboratories for the toys of the future.
Based on Bio-on’s revolutionary biopolymer, 100% naturally biodegradable 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 TDS (Toy Safety Directive), implemented into the standard international procedure for toy safety evaluation EN 71.
The Minerv PHA Supertoys project, launched by Bio-on in late 2015, aims to demonstrate that specific, ecosustainable and also completely biodegradable formulations can be created for making models and toys that are safe for children and the environment, without losing out on the end product’s functionality and aesthetic.
“We are extremely pleased to present to the world the results of this important collaboration with Italeri, a company that has written the history of global modelling,” explains Bio-On S.p.A. Chairman Marco Astorri, “because it is offering us the opportunity to develop new uses for PHAs Supertoys biopolymers in thousands of different items with extremely high levels of precision.”
“It is very interesting and promising to create new models with a completely natural eco-sustainable material,” say Gian Pietro Parmeggiani and Giuliano Malservisi, the founders of Italeri S.p.A.. In the toys sector, the future will increasingly demand more eco-sustainable products and our company will play a leading role this time too.”
“Working with Italeri is very important,” explains Astorri, “because it allows us to create highly complex models that can also be used on a large scale. Minimum tolerances and high quality enable us to make product grades that can be used in any other item in the sector.”
The Minerv PHA Supertoys research and development project launched in December 2015 is dedicated to all 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.
IL BIOECONOMISTA 