Lego to replace oil in its bricks with pricier renewable plastic

The Manila Times

Lego to replace oil in its bricks with pricier renewable plastic  Toymaker Lego said on Wednesday, August 28, it was on track to replace the fossil fuels used in making its signature bricks with more expensive renewable and recycled plastic by 2032, after signing deals with producers to secure long-term supply.  Lego, which sells billions of plastic bricks annually, has tested over 600 different materials to develop a new material that would completely replace its oil-based brick by 2030, but with limited success.  Now, Lego is aiming to gradually bring down the oil content in its bricks by paying up to 70% more for certified renewable resin, the raw plastic used to manufacture the bricks, in an attempt to encourage manufacturers to boost production.  The move comes amid a surplus of cheap virgin plastic, driven by major oil companies' investments in petrochemicals. Plastics are projected to drive new oil demand in the next few decades.  Lego's suppliers are using bio-waste such as cooking oil, or food industry waste fat, as well as recycled materials to replace virgin fossil fuels in plastic production.  REUTERS VIDEO  Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe    Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net    Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion    Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital    Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer  Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein   #TheManilaTimes #tmtnews #lego #environment

Transcript

00:00I'm going to show you how to do it.

00:30I'm going to show you how to do it.

01:00In 2015, LEGO made the first commitment around this and since then tested more than 600 different

01:18materials and some were successful, some were not.

01:24And that's what happens when you innovate.

01:27And today we are pursuing a road where we are using the mass balance approach, meaning

01:33that we are taking virgin fossil fuel out of the mix of our materials and increasingly

01:39putting sustainable materials in, so that could be recycled materials or bio-based materials.

01:58And then...

02:07Good.

02:08Then we put the material in.

02:21Now we'll see how strong it is.

02:27It's very difficult because we have such high standards for our bricks.

02:52You know, they have to be safe for kids to play with, they have to be durable.

02:56So the bricks that were made 60 years ago can still fit the bricks that we are making today.

03:01And many more quality requirements.

03:05So it has been quite difficult to find the right mix and to make this happen.

03:11They are really cool.

03:15Health and safety.

03:17At the end of it, it's the bricks that we're fighting for.

03:39This is something that is very deep in the values of the company, that we want to give

03:46a sustainable world to the children that are our customers.

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