Lego is haunted by its own plastic
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This week, while Lego kills its plans for an oil-free plastic alternative, it’s still pumping out billions of non-biodegradable bricks a year. Chris Baraniuk explores whether the family-friendly toy brand – recently valued at $7.4 billion – will ever be sustainable.
Lego Is a Company Haunted by Its Own Plastic
Lego has built an empire out of plastic. It was always thus. The bricks weren’t originally made from wood, or metal, or some other material. Ever since the company’s founder, Ole Kirk Christiansen, bought Denmark’s first plastic-injection molding machine in 1946, Lego pieces have been derived from oil, a fossil fuel.
The fiddly little parts that the company churns out—many billions every year—are today mostly made from acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, or ABS. This material doesn’t biodegrade, nor is it easily recycled. If a smiling mini figure gets into the environment, it will likely very slowly break down into highly polluting microplastics.
What was once considered a miracle material, so versatile, tough, and easily dyed in a searing array of technicolor hues, has come to haunt Lego, a family-friendly brand recently valued at $7.4 billion. Plastic is increasingly taboo and, in the rush to dispense with fossil fuels and protect Earth’s precious natural habitats, there’s a growing urgency to find alternatives, or otherwise reduce plastic pollution.
Things aren’t going to plan. On 18 September, Lego Group CEO Niels Christiansen announced he was joining Danish business leaders in calling for companies and policymakers to “stand together globally for a just and green transition to a net-zero future.” This week, Lego revealed to the Financial Times that its much-hyped project to switch away from ABS and instead make toy bricks from recycled plastic bottles has ended in disappointment. Only two years ago, the company told WIRED it had made impressive progress in developing a suitably robust version of this alternative plastic, known generally as recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET).
So what went wrong? Read the full story here.
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1yPerhaps they could use the plastic found in the ocean to create LEGO. The reusability of the lego building material is sustainable.
Open to opportunities
1yIt is a rare sight to see Lego products thrown out.. I imagine this is the case for most people. It’s too valuable to just throw away, it can be washed and re-used, handed down to siblings, sold at market. I see it as a very low concern for them.
Semiconductor device, physics and manufacturing expert.
1yIt is a very durable product. A trade-in and recying program would make more sense.
FDI consultant, Engineering & Construction PM, Hotels, Apartments, Factories
1yGo back to their classic wood material.. create a new responsible product line ..
Communications Specialist helping companies build relationships and trust with customers through digital content management, and user engagement on the path to purchase on enterprise e-commerce and mobile applications.
1yWhat a ridiculous article.