WPC for the toy industry

Wood Plastic Composite (WPC) is a new type of material produced from wood fibres and plastic. The wood plastic composite JELUPLAST® combines the advantages of wood and plastic, making it ideally suited to the manufacture of toys. Like plastic, the composite can be moulded three-dimensionally and offers wide scope for design, yet it also possesses the positive attributes of wood. The bioplastic thus attains greater strength and rigidity than plastic, which increases toy safety.

WPC toys for small children

JELUPLAST® closely resembles wood in its warmth, smell and feel, making it a genuine alternative to wood as a material. Thanks to its antibacterial effect, the new material protects even toys for very young children against harmful germs and bacteria. Our WPC complies with part 3 and parts 9-11 of the European Toy Safety standard EN 71. The composite is also free of the following harmful substances:

• Chlorine
• Formaldehyde
• Phenol
• Plasticizers
• PVC

Composite with defined properties

JELUPLAST® consists of food-safe plastic and natural fibres. The proportion of natural fibres can be set individually and amount to between 50 and 70 percent. The natural fibres can remain visible or be undetectable according to preference. Depending on the type of plastic, the biocomposite consists up to 100 per cent of sustainable materials. The properties of the plastic used determine whether the end product is long-lasting or compostable. JELUPLAST® can be processed by injection moulding, extrusion, compression moulding, blow moulding or foaming.

For our new wood plastic composites we use only fibres from selected woods that are PEFC-certified and have clearly defined properties. This is because we only process fibres that meet suitable criteria, such as a fixed grain size. This allows JELU to reliably set the biocomposite’s physical-mechanical properties to specific values. By means of additives, the characteristics can be varied and adjusted to individual applications.

Premixed compounds or individual compounds

We produce premixed compounds and manufacture customised WPC granulates with different filler concentrations and alternating additives according to the customers’ needs. JELU offers biocomposites based on polyethylene, polypropylene, recycled polymers (PE, PP) and polylactides (PLA). The fibres are either wood fibres or cellulose fibres. JELUPLAST® with PLA is biodegradable or industrially compostable.

Our composite is granulated, as the processing of granulate permits the production of extremely homogeneous end products. WPC granulate from JELU has consistent running properties on the machine, facilitating a higher output. Compounding also helps the biocomposite to achieve higher compression, enabling it to be processed better.