The Animal Friends construction kit with its plastic building blocks consisting of 60 per cent bio-based materials was recently selected as the winner of the sustainability category at the Toy Awards, one of the industry’s most renowned quality seals. Last year, toy manufacturer fischertechnik was presented with the Sustainable Commitment award for the second time. As the test winner in the toys category, Focus Money magazine together with the analysis and consultancy firm ServiceValue is confirming fischertechnik’s efforts to offer economically, ecologically and socially responsible toys. 

The fischertechnik product range contains construction kits that help convey the key issue of sustainability to children and young people in an understandable way. The STEM Renewable Energies construction kit teaches pupils how renewable energy works and contains different models operated through wind and solar energy as well as a hydrogen fuel cell, which is also part of the H2 Fuel Cell Car construction kit. fischertechnik is thereby illustrating how one of the major bearers of hope for alternative drive technologies in the automotive industry works.

fischertechnik is one of just a few toy manufacturers to produce in Germany. This proximity between suppliers and the company ensures efficient and lean processes. fischertechnik provides added benefits with the high quality of its building blocks which can be combined with every part of its current construction kits since their market launch in the 1960s.

The company’s decades of know-how in plastic production is complemented by the experiences gained throughout the entire fischer Group of Companies, particularly in the fixing systems division, where sustainability has been an important part of the strategy for many years. In 2019, the entire fischer Group of Companies won the German Sustainability Award in the large businesses category. The fastenings from the GreenLine product range were a decisive factor in this, as they consist of at least 60 per cent sustainable resources. 

The colourful building blocks of the new fischertechnik Animal Friends are made of 60 per cent bio-based materials. The material is based on castor oil made from the seed of the castor bean and therefore does not compete with food and fodder so that there is no risk of agricultural land needed by people and animals being used. fischertechnik has also given the component packaging a sustainable design, with parts packaged in paper bags rather than plastic foil, for instance.