The Perfect Eco-Friendly Recycled Plastic Brick By LEGO

By Kanyi M

The production of plastic around the globe exceeds 380 million tons per year. In fact, LEGO is accountable for 100,000 tons of this amount. The good news is that all 100,000 tons of plastic were converted to 110 billion bricks last year. ABS made up the great majority of the 110 billion bricks. Strength and stiffness are the hallmarks of ABS, a thermoplastic derived from petroleum that is highly valued. This means that whatever is created from it will last a long time. It’s meant to maintain its shape and grip across decades of play, LEGO’s new PET brick is designed to be durable.

Image courtesy of shutterstock.com

By 2030, the firm wants to have all of its goods made from sustainable resources. 3,500 forms are available, including the 2×4, which is the most common. All of these sets of bricks have one thing in common; a sturdy grip. An advanced PET brick prototype is being developed by The National Renewables Laboratory of the US Department Of Energy (DOE). According to Gregg Beckham of the department, it took decades for PET to be transformed into ABS-like bricks. He said that the true environmental advantages might come from finding methods to recycle the things we can’t recycle at the time. An enzyme that digests PET is also being developed by the researchers. This will allow for more efficient recycling.

To break down plastics like ABS, Beckham and his colleagues are actively working on ideas. We may wind up using 40 distinct materials in the future.

Image by Andrew Martin from Pixabay