Lego has presented its first recycled plastic bottle bricks, stating that the components would be included in sets within two years.

The Danish firm, whose name is derived from the Danish words "leg godt," which means "play well," produces billions of bricks each year, the majority of which are made of an ABS plastic that provides "clutch power," allowing them to cling together.

Prototype Bricks

The prototype 4x2 bricks were created using PET plastic from recycled bottles and additives to give them the robustness of standard Lego components. They are the product of three years of testing 250 different materials.

Recycled Plastics

Each 1-liter plastic bottle used in the procedure yields enough material to make 10 4x2 Lego bricks on average.

Before the toymaker chooses whether to continue with pilot production, the method will be evaluated and refined. It is predicted that the next round of testing would take at least a year.

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Making Lego Environmentally Friendly

Lego has more than 150 employees working on making its goods more environmentally friendly, and it has pledged to invest up to $400 million (£286 million) over three years to achieve this goal.

It has previously been said that single-use plastic would be phased out of the packaging. It has been making parts from bio-polyethylene (bio-PE) manufactured from sustainably sourced sugarcane since 2018. These are bendy items such as trees, leaves, and figure accessories.

The pigments used to color bricks were not oil-based, but they were striving to make them more environmentally friendly.

The main difficulty, according to Tim Brooks, vice-president of environmental responsibility at Lego Group, is "rethinking and inventing new materials that are as durable, robust, and high quality as our existing bricks - and fit with Lego parts created over the previous 60 years."

He went on to say, "We're dedicated to helping establish a sustainable future for future generations of children." Through the play, they inspire and the materials we use, we want our goods to have a beneficial influence on the environment. We still have a long way to go on our path, but we're happy with how far we've come."

"It Shouldn't Stop There"

Environmentalists applauded the use of recycled plastics, but they cautioned that it should not be the "default answer" to the plastics issue.

"Children need to grow up in a world free of unnecessary plastic pollution," Camilla Zerr, a plastics campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said. "Initiatives, where toys may be manufactured using recycled plastics, are promising, and others in the industry should follow suit."

"However, it's critical that recycling isn't touted as the panacea for the plastics issue. Toymakers must guarantee that their products are built to last for many years, so they may be passed down and utilized from generation to generation."

Taking Stronger Steps

Zerr believes that by include legislation on plastic pollution in the government's environmental bill, the government might "take stronger steps."

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