The Lego toy company decided on Monday to abandon its plan to reuse plastic from water bottles for its famous interlocking pieces after realizing that the approach would ultimately be more polluting.
“We have decided not to progress in the manufacture of bricks from [polyéthylène téréphtalate recyclé] (PET) recycled after more than three years of testing, because we found that the material did not reduce carbon emissions,” a company spokesperson announced Monday, according to CNN.
The plan of the Lego company, which two years ago unveiled a prototype of bricks made from recycled plastic from bottles, would have fallen through after the company realized that it would be more polluting overall. ‘invest in new equipment – requiring more steps – rather than maintaining the current formula.
According to the spokesperson, the recycled material was not as durable and safe as the petroleum-based brick formula currently used.
However, the company would remain “fully committed to manufacturing Lego bricks from sustainable materials by 2032” to reduce its carbon emissions by 37%, seeking other alternatives to make its toys less polluting, according to CNN.
This avenue was just one of hundreds of materials tested by the company, according to the spokesperson.