Toyota Adds Sugarcane to Interior-Plastics Mix

Sugarcane goes into an environmentally friendly plastic Toyota uses in vehicle interiors.

The new product allows the auto maker to cover about 80% of a production car’s interior surface area with bioplastic.

Lexus CT 200h trunk lining made with bioplastic.

The material is a variant of the formula for making polyethylene terephthalate, commonly used for products such as soft-drink bottles.

Toyota developed its bioplastic by replacing one of the raw materials in PET – monoethylene glycol – with organic material derived from sugarcane.

The auto maker says the resulting plastic reduces carbon-dioxide emissions and uses fewer petroleum resources over a vehicle’s life cycle, from manufacturing to disposal.

The material is employed in high-use areas such as seat trim and carpets because it outperforms other bioplastics in terms of durability and heat- and shrink-resistance. It also matches the performance, including cost, of petroleum-based plastics, Toyota says.

The auto maker still uses previously developed bioplastics in ceiling and pillar garnishes, sun-visor surfaces and for injection-molded parts such as scuff plates and the luggage tray, as well as for luggage-space trim surfaces and foam in seat cushions.

Toyota says it achieved the global auto industry's highest level of bioplastics in a vehicle by using it to cover 60% of the exposed surfaces of interior parts in the Sai hybrid sedan, launched in Japan in December 2009.

The auto maker has been working on using Earth-friendly plastic in automobiles since 2000.

In 2003, it says it became the first car company to use bioplastic made from polylactic acid in a mass-produced vehicle when it introduced the material in the spare-tire cover and floor mats of a compact car in Japan.

Toyota also uses bioplastic in the trunk lining of the Lexus CT 200h.