Eco-Friendly Toys Nab Environmental Award
John Deere toy front loader, dump trucks, made from GreenDot sugarcane-based PE.
A nearly 100% bio-based line of toys being molded for John Deere were recently named the Bio-based Product of the Year Award, presented in September at the Bio-Based Live conference in San Diego.
The John Deere EcoRigs are molded by , Ft. Collins, Colo., from material furnished by , Cottonwood Falls, Kan., specifically one of Green Dot’s Terratek bio-based biocomposites, which combine PE derived from sugarcane with corncob fibers sourced from Midwest farms. The first two toys are modeled after a front loader and dump truck, the same vehicles used in the harvesting of the sourced materials.
The project began when BeginAgain commissioned Green Dot to formulate a bio-based biocomposite for the toy. Green Dot formulated a nearly 100% renewable material, combining corncob fibers with Braskem America’s ‘I’m Green’ bio-based PE made from sugarcane ethanol. Compounded, molded and assembled in the Midwest, the new bioplastic toys were created to promote reclamation and the use of regionally produced agricultural byproducts.
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