Our Eco-Friendly Promise
Made from plants rather than crude oil, and lower-carbon to produce. Here is what that does and doesn't mean.
What is PLA?
PLA (Polylactic Acid) is a bio-plastic made from plant-based materials like corn starch and sugarcane. Unlike traditional petroleum-based plastics, PLA is derived from plants rather than fossil fuels.
It's one of the most popular sustainable materials used in 3D printing today, and it's what we use to create all of our fidgets.
When disposed of in industrial composting facilities, PLA can break down into natural elements. However, it's important to note that PLA requires specific industrial conditions to biodegrade — it won't break down in home compost or landfill.
What PLA Is — and What It Isn't
Plenty of shops will tell you a plant-based plastic is simply better for the planet. The research is more interesting than that, so here it is with the awkward half left in.
It is made from plants, not crude oil
PLA is polymerised from lactic acid fermented from crops — corn starch, sugarcane, cassava. The feedstock is grown and regrown rather than drilled, which is a real difference in where the material comes from and what it depends on.
It takes less carbon to make — and that is the honest limit of the claim
A 2024 review pooled more than 80 life-cycle assessments of PLA published since the early 2000s. Measured to the point the raw material leaves the factory, PLA's median footprint was 1.63 kg CO2e per kg — lower than PET, polypropylene or polyethylene.
Measured across the whole life, including disposal, the median was 3.91 kg CO2e per kg — which the authors describe as comparable to those same fossil plastics. The gap narrows because the first figure credits PLA for the CO2 the crop absorbed while it grew, and the end of life is where that credit is handed back.
The same review found wide variation between individual studies, driven by the crop, the electricity used to make the material, and what happens to it afterwards. So the fair sentence is that PLA is the lower-carbon choice to produce, not that it is a low-carbon material in every circumstance.
Source: Pinlova, Sudheshwar, Vogel, Malinverno, Hischier & Som (2024), “What can we learn about the climate change impacts of polylactic acid from a review and meta-analysis of lifecycle assessment studies?”, Sustainable Production and Consumption 48, 396–406. doi:10.1016/j.spc.2024.05.021 — open access, so you can check it yourself.
It is compostable industrially, and nowhere else
PLA needs sustained heat and controlled conditions to break down. It will not do that in a garden compost bin, and in landfill it behaves much like any other plastic. Industrial composting that accepts PLA is still thin on the ground in the UK, so treat this as a property of the material rather than a promise about what will actually happen to your fidget.
It is still plastic, and a fidget is meant to last
The greenest thing about a fidget toy is not its feedstock — it is not needing replacing. We print to order in small runs rather than shipping pallets of stock that may never sell, and we would rather sell you one that survives a school bag for years than three that don't.
Made from Plant-Based Materials
Corn Starch
The primary ingredient in PLA comes from the starches found in corn, a renewable crop that can be regrown each season.
Sugarcane
Sugarcane is another plant-based source used to create the lactic acid that forms the building blocks of PLA plastic.
Tapioca Roots
Cassava or tapioca roots provide starch that can also be converted into PLA, offering another sustainable source.
Why It Matters
Lower Carbon to Produce
Across 80+ pooled life-cycle studies, PLA's median footprint to the factory gate is 1.63 kg CO2e per kg — below PET, PP and PE. Counted to end of life it is comparable to them. Both halves, and the source, are above.
Plant-Based Origin
Unlike petroleum plastics, PLA is derived from plants like corn and sugarcane which can be regrown each season.
Plant-Based, Not Petroleum
PLA is made from renewable crops rather than crude oil, so the material starts life in a field instead of a refinery.
Industrial Composting
PLA can break down in industrial composting facilities, though proper disposal infrastructure is still developing in many areas.
Sustainability is Our Priority
At Fidget Street, we believe that fun products shouldn't come at the cost of our planet. That's why we've chosen to use PLA for all our 3D-printed fidgets.
By choosing our products, you're not just getting a fun, satisfying fidget — you're supporting a more sustainable future for our planet.
Shop Sustainable
Explore our collection of eco-friendly fidgets.