Hunting for Proposals for Robust and Eco-Friendly Plastic Tracks

It's important to know where Peter is geographically as well because if for example its the UK he won't have the option to buy new Tomy made tracks like those eco green ones unless he imports them from Japan, doing so is hardly 'eco' once you factor in the 'air miles' they would travel (would that be 'toy miles' seeing as they refer to imported food as having 'food miles'?). Strictly speaking unless imported you are pretty much limited to Fisher Price Trackmaster tracks in the UK if you can even find a stockist that has those if you want new. I'm not convinced about the longevity of the FP tracks anyway, they always seem a bit flimsy and difficult to connect easily when compared to Tomy blue track.

Personally I would have thought the most eco way is to go buy the most durable tracks second hand from eBay rather than buy new. After all they have already been manufactured so there is no additional carbon footprint and as we all know the Tomy blue tracks have probably the widest range of pieces such as turnouts/points (depending if you are american or english <g>) as well as the basic pieces. They are very resilient and long lasting and if you do end up breaking a piece you can toss it in the recycling because they are made of an ABS type plastic which is eminently recyclable. Also you can often pick up a big batch of track at very reasonable prices on eBay and may even get some trains and/or rolling stock and scenery thrown in the bundle.

The other choice is to print your own as we know if you have a 3D printer. As to the eco credentials there if you use PLA plastic that is primarily manufactured from maize or other similar plant products, but of course it does have some level of carbon footprint during manufacture, not to mention the actual electricity you use when printing them. As for disposal PLA will break down even if discarded into landfill, so has a minimal eco impact in that respect. The drawback is that it is less flexible than ABS type plastics so can crack if too much pressure is applied to it, not that a plarail train will offer that much pressure. The other choice would be to print in ABS on your 3D printer, but that can be fraught with issues, many printers are not really suitable as you ideally need one with a full enclosure or else it can crack/de-laminate as it cools during the printing process. If printed successfully it can be almost as robust as injection moulded ABS tracks such as Tomy's, but again there is an eco footprint as ABS is derived from Oil, but on the plus side it can be recycled easily.

Basically the whole area is a bit of a minefield unless you know exactly where, what and how from Peter - where he is, what he wants and how he wants to procure it (i.e. manufactured or DIY 3D prints).