Danish toymaker Lego Group has has unveiled its first prototype Lego brick made from recycled plastic.
The new prototype, which uses PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic from discarded bottles, is the first brick made from a recycled material to meet the company’s strict quality and safety requirements.
Lego is investing up to $400 million over three years to 2022 to accelerate its sustainability ambitions.
“Over the past three years, materials scientists and engineers tested over 250 variations of PET materials and hundreds of other plastic formulations,” said Lego.
“The result is a prototype that meets several of their quality, safety and play requirements – including clutch power.”
Tim Brooks, Vice President of Environmental Responsibility at Lego Group, said: “We are super excited about this breakthrough.
“The biggest challenge on our sustainability journey is rethinking and innovating new materials that are as durable, strong and high quality as our existing bricks – and fit with LEGO elements made over the past 60 years.
“With this prototype we’re able to showcase the progress we’re making.”
It will be some time before bricks made from a recycled material appear in Lego product boxes.
The Lego team will continue testing and developing the PET formulation and then assess whether to move to the pilot production phase.
This next phase of testing is expected to take at least a year.
Brooks said: “We know kids care about the environment and want us to make our products more sustainable.
“Even though it will be a while before they will be able to play with bricks made from recycled plastic, we want to let kids know we’re working on it and bring them along on the journey with us.
“Experimentation and failing is an important part of learning and innovation. Just as kids build, unbuild and rebuild with LEGO bricks at home, we’re doing the same in our lab.”
The prototype is made from recycled PET sourced from suppliers in the United States that use US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) approved processes to ensure quality.
On average, a one-litre plastic PET bottle provides enough raw material for ten 2 x 4 Lego bricks.
In 2020, Lego announced it would begin removing single-use plastic from its boxes.
In 2018, it began producing elements from bio-polyethylene (bio-PE), made from sustainably sourced sugarcane.
Brooks added: “We’re committed to playing our part in building a sustainable future for generations of children.
“We want our products to have a positive impact on the planet, not just with the play they inspire, but also with the materials we use.
“We still have a long way to go on our journey but are pleased with the progress we’re making.”