In Germany, a recent study conducted by Klaus Menrad, a renewable resources expert at the Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Science, found that over 500 parents preferred and would be willing to pay a limited price premium for bioplastic toys over conventional plastic toys due to increasing environmental and safety concerns of conventional plastics. They also found that parents expect that biobased plastic toys should be 100% biobased, not just partially biobased.
Parents in the study also wanted the biobased plastic to be made locally and from biomass from Europe, and preferably organic, non-genetically modified, and made from a non-food crop. Menrad told AZO Clean Tech, “The problem is they also put a lot of emphasis on price, and price is often what dictates what the consumer buys.”