Danish toymaker Lego has announced that its first sustainable pieces will go on sale later this year.
The Guardian reports that the company’s botanical elements, such as leaves, bushes, and trees, will soon be made entirely from a plant-based plastic sourced from sugar cane.
The development follows Lego’s commitment to the use of sustainable materials where possible in its packaging and core products – including the iconic Lego bricks – by 2030. Last year, it replaced the previous plastic tray of its Lego Advent Calendar with sustainable paper pulp trays, to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.
The new pieces will be made from polyethylene, a plastic made with ethanol extracted from sugar cane, which Lego claims to be a durable as a conventional plastic – a factor crucial to Lego’s enduring appeal. It can also be recycled many times, as a bio-plastic.
Tim Brooks, Lego Group’s Vice-President of Environmental Responsibility, said: “At Lego we want to make a positive impact on the world around us, and are working hard to make great play products for children using sustainable materials. This is a great first step in our ambitious commitment of making all Lego bricks using sustainable materials.”
The toymaker has also entered into a partnership with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to support and create demand for plastics that are sustainably sourced; furthermore, it has joined the Bioplastic Feedstock Alliance, an organisation which ensures sustainable sourcing of raw materials within the bioplastics industry.
