Toy company Lego said it is now on its way to building plastic blocks made from recycled materials, in a bid to increase its sustainability goals and reduce plastic waste.
AFTER committing to make all their products sustainable by 2030, Danish toymaker LEGO have found a suitable green alternative to their regular oil-based plastic.
At present, the company makes many of its bricks using acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), a virgin plastic made from crude oil.
In a statement Wednesday (June 23), Tim Brooks, Lego's vice president of environmental responsibility said the company has developed prototype bricks made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, with some other chemicals added.
Lego said it will use recycled material from plastic bottles that are certified as safe to handle beverages in Europe and the United States.
One liter of plastic will yield around ten standard Lego bricks.
The company has been using sustainable materials on some of the less rigid Lego parts, such as plants and trees, from bio-polyethylene made from sugarcane.
In 2020, Lego announced a $400 million investment to step up efforts to use sustainable materials.
The company expects to bring the PET-made prototype to market in 18 to 24 months.
According to a BBC report, LEGO makes about 35,000 plastic LEGO bricks every minute and about 80% are made from ABS.
"We are super excited about this breakthrough," said Brooks. "We want our products to have a positive impact on the planet, not just with the play they inspire, but also with the materials we use."
Tags: #Lego, #recycling, #plastics, #sustainability