Toyotas have a sweet heart

New Toyotas will come up sweet in the sustainability stakes as they utilise a bio-plastic made from sugar cane for interior surface parts.

The newly developed sugar cane-derived  bio-plastic will cover about  80 per cent of the interior surface area of future production cars.
The bio-plastic is used  in high traffic areas such as the seat trim and carpets because, Toyota says it dramatically outperforms other bio-plastics in terms of heat-resistance, durability and shrink-resistance. It also matches the performance, including cost, of petroleum-derived plastics.

Previously developed bio-plastics continue to be used in ceiling and pillar garnishes, sun-visor surfaces and for injection-moulded parts such as scuff plates and the luggage tray, as well as for luggage-space trim surfaces and foam in seat cushions.

Toyota achieved the world's highest level^* of bio-plastics in a vehicle by using it to cover 60 per cent of the exposed surfaces of interior parts in the Sai hybrid sedan, launched in Japan in December 2009.

The latest ecological plastic is produced by varying the formula for making polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is commonly used for products such as soft-drink bottles.

Toyota developed its bio-PET by replacing one of the raw materials in PET - monoethylene glycol - with a biological raw material derived from sugar cane.

TMC believes ecological plastic is instrumental for cutting CO₂ emissions and for using fewer petroleum resources over the lifecycle of a vehicle, from manufacturing through to disposal.

The environmental advantage is that the raw material is derived from plants, which absorb CO₂ from the atmosphere as they grow, rather than from petroleum-derived plastics.

Toyota has been working on applying ecological plastic to automobiles since 2000.