Lego ends experiment in making plastic bricks out of recycled bottles

However Danish toymaker says it stays dedicated to discovering a sustainable materials by 2032

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark’s Lego mentioned on Monday that it stays dedicated to its quest to search out sustainable supplies to cut back carbon emissions, even after an experiment by the world’s largest toymaker to make use of recycled bottles didn’t work.

Lego mentioned it has “determined to not progress” with making its trademark vibrant bricks from recycled plastic bottles manufactured from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and after greater than two years of testing “discovered the fabric didn’t cut back carbon emissions.”

Nonetheless, the toymaker stays “absolutely dedicated to creating Lego bricks from sustainable supplies by 2032,” it added.

Two years in the past, the privately-held group, which makes its bricks out of oil-based plastic, began researching a possible transition to recycled plastic bottles manufactured from PET plastic, which doesn’t degrade in high quality when recycled.

It had invested “greater than $1.2 billion in sustainability initiatives” as a part of efforts to transition to extra sustainable supplies and cut back carbon emissions by 37% by 2032, Lego mentioned.

The corporate mentioned it was “presently testing and growing Lego bricks constituted of a variety of different sustainable supplies, together with different recycled plastics and plastics constituted of different sources corresponding to e-methanol.” Also referred to as inexperienced methanol, e-methanol consists of waste carbon dioxide and hydrogen, created through the use of renewable vitality to separate water molecules.

Lego mentioned it can proceed to make use of bio-polypropylene, the sustainable and organic variant of polyethylene — a plastic utilized in all the things from client and meals packaging to tires — for components in Lego units corresponding to leaves, bushes and different equipment.

“We imagine that within the long-term this can encourage elevated manufacturing of extra sustainable uncooked supplies, corresponding to recycled oils, and assist help our transition to sustainable supplies,” it mentioned.

Lego was based in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen. The identify derived from the Danish phrases, leg godt, which imply “play effectively.” The model identify was created unaware that “lego” additionally means “I assemble” in Latin.

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