Lego’s have become a staple to every child’s play set, in fact we all have probably played it at least once before. Due to its high demand, the constant flow of lego production has been responsible for 100,000 metric tons of worldwide plastic waste alone. They are 80% made from a material called "acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene" (ABS) due to its strength and rigidity. However, ABS is not very easy to recycle and it'll take lifetimes until it fully breaks down. Luckily, the Lego Headquarters has recently announced a new prototype: the PET brick, which is said to reduce carbon reduction by 70%. Isn't that exciting?
But what is PET?
In simple terms, PET is plastic that comes from discarded bottles. A 1-litre plastic bottle provides enough material for 10 4 by 2 bricks.
Is it just as good as ABS?
To begin, PET is less rigid and strong as ABS, but material engineers and scientists have added a 'secret sauce' which modifies the prototype to behave just like ABS. PET is a very promising sustainable replacement for ABS , so much so that Lego HQ has stated that it hopes to include the pieces within sets in two years time.
This isn’t Lego's first attempt at sustainability. In 2018, legos had produced a sugarcane-based plastic which was mainly used for the trees and leaves. In November 2020, children had sent letters asking to decrease the use of plastic and Lego later announced they would stop using plastic bags within the box sets. We hope this inspires you to voice out your activism as what you say matters. In the meantime, play with your lego sets and don't throw them away, keep them and pass them down to your future family. Let's save the earth one brick at a time.
Bibliography
Finney, A. (2021, June 25). Lego develops recycled bricks made from discarded bottles. dezeen. https://www.dezeen.com/2021/06/25/lego-recycled-bottles-plastic-brick-rpet/
The LEGO Group reveals first prototype LEGO® brick made from recycled plastic. (2021, June 23). LEGO. https://www.lego.com/en-us/aboutus/news/2021/june/prototype-lego-brick-recycled-plastic/
Lewis, S. (2021, June 24). Lego is finally making its iconic bricks from recycled plastic. CBS NEWS. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lego-bricks-prototype-recycled-plastic-bottles/
Osborne, H. (2021, June Wednesday 23). Lego develops first bricks made from recycled plastic bottles. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/jun/23/lego-develops-first-bricks-made-of-recycled-plastic-bottles
White, J. (2021, July 11). How Lego Perfected the Recycled Plastic Brick. WIRED. https://www.wired.com/story/lego-recycled-plastic-brick/
Comments