Lego adjusts plan for making bricks from recycled plastic bottles

foxbusiness.com:

Check out what's clicking on FoxBusiness.com

Lego is forgoing one of its oil-free recycled plastic block prototypes after testing showed the material didn't cut down on carbon emissions. However, the toymaker isn't ditching the effort to make its toys sustainable. 

In 2021, the company unveiled a prototype brick made from recycled polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, which was supposed to be better for the environment compared to its traditional bricks, which are mostly made from oil-based plastic called ABS. 

However, after two years of testing the company discovered «the material didn't reduce carbon emissions,» a Lego Group spokesperson told FOX Business. 

As a result, it has «decided not to progress making bricks from recycled PET,» the spokesperson said. 

BIDEN ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES $1.7B FOR LOW OR NO-EMISSION BUSES, TRANSIT PROJECTS

Lego Group CEO Niels Christiansen told the Financial Times in an interview that the material would have in fact resulted in more carbon emissions over the products' lifetime because it would have required new equipment. 

Lego says it is committed to making its Lego bricks from sustainable materials by 2032. (LEGO Group)

Although it's not moving forward with the plan to make the bricks out of recycled PET, it was only «one of hundreds of different sustainable materials we’ve tested,» the spokesperson continued. 

CALIFORNIA GOES TO WAR WITH OIL AND GAS GIANTS OVER CLIMATE CHANGE 'DECEPTION'

The company says it is still committed to making its Lego bricks from sustainable materials by 2032. It is currently testing and developing bricks that are made from various alternative sustainable materials, including other recycled plastics and plastics made from alternative sources such