In Denmark, LEGO, the maker of the popular children’s interlocking bricks, has launched its first kit made from bioplastic.
The kit—appropriately designed to make a treehouse—uses sugarcane-based polyethylene. “All sets with LEGO trees, leaves, and bushes in our LEGO sets—80 different elements—are now [also] made from plant-based plastic,” Matt Whitby, Environmental Engagement Manager of the LEGO group, told Forbes.
LEGO has historically used acrylonitrile butadiene styrene to produce its nearly 19 million bricks a year. In 2015, it announced a $1-billion plan to make all its bricks sustainable by 2030.
Whitby adds that finding a material with the right properties has been the biggest challenge. “”Most importantly, the bricks need clutch power, the flexibility that enables bricks to be put together and taken apart by a child,” he says.