Lego builds for the future with sugar cane
Toy company to introduce range of sustainable leaves, trees and bushes in the fight against plastic waste
LEGO will be made from sugar cane as the toy company admits it needs to do more in the fight against plastic waste.
A new range of “sustainable” parts including leaves, bushes and trees made from sugar cane are in production and will go on sale later in the year. At present, Lego bricks are made from ABS plastic, which is made from crude oil. However, the firm has committed to making them sustainable by 2030.
Lego pieces have been found on beaches in the South West for years, a phenomenon that is thought to be due to nearly 4.8million Lego parts falling overboard from a container ship in a storm off Land’s End in 1997.
But while the process for making the new parts may be “greener” than for traditional bricks, they will not be biodegradable, Lego confirmed. And it will be “a long time” before Lego’s standard bricks are made out of sustainable materials, said Tim Brooks, vice-president of environmental responsibility and sustainable materials.
The challenges of making finely detailed and accurate building bricks out of sugar cane mean Lego is likely to wait right up until 2030 before taking the step, he said.
The new sustainable elements are made from polythene, a soft, durable and flexible plastic based on sugar cane material, and are technically identical to those produced using conventional plastic, Lego said.
Theresa May has launched a war on plastic to get rid of avoidable waste within 25 years and “make ours the first generation to leave the natural environment in a better state than we found it”.
She called plastic “one of the great environmental scourges of our time” and claimed single-use plastic wasted every year in the UK would fill the Royal Albert Hall 1,000 times.
Mr Brooks added: “Lego products have always been about providing high-quality play experiences giving every child the chance to shape their own world through inventive play.
“Children and parents will not notice any difference in the quality or appearance of the new elements, because plant-based polythene has the same properties as conventional polythene.
“The unique Lego brick design, and the Lego Group’s uncompromised focus on quality and safety during the past 60 years ensures that two Lego bricks produced decades apart can still fit together.
“As the Lego Group is working towards using sustainable materials in its core products and packaging, it will remain strongly rooted and driven by the uncompromised focus on high product quality and safety.”