First sustainable Lego pieces to go on sale

The first Lego pieces made from plant-based plastic sourced from sugar walking cane will

go on sale this year, the company has revealed. The 85-year-old Danish toymaker said production has actually started on a range of Lego botanical elements or pieces such as leaves, bushes and trees, made totally from plant-based plastic. They will begin appearing in Lego box sets with bricks and mini-figures later this year.

The move is part of Lego’s dedication to utilize more sustainable products in its core products – including its eponymous bricks – and product packaging by 2030. Its aim is to discover sustainable sources to change its present fossil fuel-based raw materials, as plastic can likewise be made from sustainable or bio-based raw products.

The new-style Lego elements are made from polyethylene– a soft, durable and versatile plastic that can now be made with ethanol extracted from sugar walking stick product and, Lego declares, is as resilient as traditional plastic. As a bio-plastic, it can be recycled sometimes, though it is

not likely to be 100%eco-friendly. The product has been tested to guarantee it meets Lego’s own high standards along with consumer expectations. Nevertheless the polyethylene components will amount to just 1-2% of the total amount of plastic elements produced by the family-owned toymaker, one of the world’s most popular brands.

“At Lego we wish to make a favorable effect on the world around us, and are striving to make fantastic play products for children utilizing sustainable products” said Tim Brooks, vice-president of environmental obligation at the Lego Group. “This is an excellent primary step in our enthusiastic dedication of making all Lego bricks using sustainable products.”

Lego bricks have been made with a strong, oil-based plastic called acrylonitrile butadiene styrene considering that 1963, although other pieces in its sets do not need such strong and hard products. The company recommends that bricks not desired are passed on to others or donated to charity shops or, if worn and not suitable for play, recycled as “other plastic.”

Lego has signed up with forces with WWF to support and build need for sustainably sourced plastic, and has actually signed up with the Bioplastic Feedstock Alliance (BFA) to guarantee totally sustainable sourcing of raw material for the bioplastics industry.

Lego takes pride in the sturdiness of its bricks, with its special style guaranteeing that two bricks produced years apart can still fit together. It has set a target of 2030 to reach no waste in operations, and in 2015 presented sustainable paper pulp trays for its Lego arrival calendar, to lower plastic waste going to garbage dump.