L
ego has ditched plans to make bricks out of recycled drinks bottles after discovering the brand new materials failed to chop carbon emissions.
The Danish toy large introduced in 2021 it was researching whether or not PET plastic, or polyethylene terephthalate – which doesn’t degrade in high quality when recycled – might be used to make its constructing bricks.
It was a part of a plan to shift to oil-free bricks, with Lego hoping recycled PET plastic might change crude oil-based acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), which is at present utilized in items.
We stay absolutely dedicated to creating Lego bricks from sustainable supplies by 2032
But the agency stated that after greater than two years of testing, it discovered the brand new materials didn’t cut back carbon emissions.
Lego careworn it stays “fully committed” to creating its bricks from sustainable supplies by 2032 regardless of the setback.
It stated it was nonetheless testing a spread of different sustainable supplies to make use of in making bricks, together with different recycled plastics, in addition to plastics made out of different sources, resembling e-methanol.
A Lego spokesman stated: “We remain fully committed to making Lego bricks from sustainable materials by 2032.
“We are investing more than 1.4 billion US dollars (£1.1 billion) in sustainability initiatives in the four years to 2025 as part of our efforts to transition to more sustainable materials and reduce our carbon emissions by 37% by 2032.”
The group has been making a push to spice up its sustainable credentials lately, with goals to seek out a substitute for oil-based plastic bricks, in addition to rolling out paper-based packaging as a part of goals to cease utilizing plastic luggage by the top of 2025.
It’s like attempting to make a motorbike out of wooden moderately than metal
Lego’s chief government Niels Christiansen advised the Financial Times newspaper, which first reported the agency’s transfer to scrap the PET bricks challenge, there was no “magic material” to unravel sustainability points.
He stated: “We tested hundreds and hundreds of materials. It’s just not been possible to find a material like that.”
The agency additionally stated PET plastic would trigger larger carbon emissions over the product’s lifetime because it required new gear, in response to the FT.
Tim Brooks, the Lego Group’s head of sustainability, advised the FT that PET plastic wanted further components to offer it security and sturdiness, in addition to giant portions of power to course of and dry it.
“It’s like trying to make a bike out of wood rather than steel,” he stated.
