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Lego will sell its first sustainable pieces later this year

19 points by chrisper 9y ago

michaelbuckbee 9y ago
That's good, but honestly I feel like Lego are maybe one of the best uses of plastic. High tolerances, resistant to wear and pretty much infinitely resuable (across literally generations!). Where plastic is a much greater issue is when it's disposable, like in say the clear plastic bags that the legos in the box ship in.
- jgh 9y ago
  Interesting point, that makes me think they're really tackling two birds with one stone here: "sustainability" and increasing revenue because people will have to buy legos more often.
legitster 9y ago
It's a bit silly, right? Like, LEGOs are already sustainable because they are so long lasting. If there was one good use left for petro-chemicals, this is kind of the case. Ultra-durable products that can be reused infinitely. It seems like growing, harvesting, and processing plant materials would be more resource intensive.
- ocdtrekkie 9y ago
  Indeed, fair concern: Will making these LEGOs differently cause this to be less so? Will becoming "sustainable" degrade the lifetime of LEGO collections over time? (Honestly, this may be a reasonable issue for LEGO at some point. Nobody in their right mind throws LEGOs away, someday it will hardly make sense to buy new LEGOs because there will be so many in the market already.)
  - legitster 9y ago
    > If they’re worn and no longer usable, you can recycle them with regular household plastics. Who are these people and what are they doing with the LEGOs?
    - rhcom2 9y ago
      Dog owners. I lost many a piece to chewing.
  - masklinn 9y ago
    > Indeed, fair concern: Will making these LEGOs differently cause this to be less so? Will becoming "sustainable" degrade the lifetime of LEGO collections over time? > The new sustainable LEGO elements are made from polyethylene, which is a soft, durable and flexible plastic, and while they are based on sugar-cane material, they are technically identical to those produced using conventional plastic. The elements have been tested to ensure the plant-based plastic meets the high standards for quality and safety that the LEGO Group has, and consumers expect from LEGO products. Note that this is being deployed only for "botanical elements" (bushes, trees, …) currently.
    - ocdtrekkie 9y ago
      I read both of those facts, yes. But I've got LEGOs going back decades that demonstrate the actual long-term quality of the existing processes, we have yet to see how the new ones fare. And obviously, LEGO will presumably expand the usage of this process if it works well, is cost effective, or becomes generally preferred.
  - theklub 9y ago
    Win-win for Lego, their parts don't last as long and its great for public image. Legos ending up in landfills isn't a real problem.
ndr 9y ago
I wonder what's the delta on the actual production process. It seems the pieces themselves won't have a great impact as they're super durable. Is the factory any more efficient for these new pieces?

19 points by chrisper 9y ago

That's good, but honestly I feel like Lego are maybe one of the best uses of plastic. High tolerances, resistant to wear and pretty much infinitely resuable (across literally generations!). Where plastic is a much greater issue is when it's disposable, like in say the clear plastic bags that the legos in the box ship in.

jgh 9y ago
Interesting point, that makes me think they're really tackling two birds with one stone here: "sustainability" and increasing revenue because people will have to buy legos more often.

legitster 9y ago

It's a bit silly, right? Like, LEGOs are already sustainable because they are so long lasting. If there was one good use left for petro-chemicals, this is kind of the case. Ultra-durable products that can be reused infinitely. It seems like growing, harvesting, and processing plant materials would be more resource intensive.

ocdtrekkie 9y ago
Indeed, fair concern: Will making these LEGOs differently cause this to be less so? Will becoming "sustainable" degrade the lifetime of LEGO collections over time? (Honestly, this may be a reasonable issue for LEGO at some point. Nobody in their right mind throws LEGOs away, someday it will hardly make sense to buy new LEGOs because there will be so many in the market already.)
- legitster 9y ago
  > If they’re worn and no longer usable, you can recycle them with regular household plastics. Who are these people and what are they doing with the LEGOs?
  - rhcom2 9y ago
    Dog owners. I lost many a piece to chewing.
- masklinn 9y ago
  > Indeed, fair concern: Will making these LEGOs differently cause this to be less so? Will becoming "sustainable" degrade the lifetime of LEGO collections over time? > The new sustainable LEGO elements are made from polyethylene, which is a soft, durable and flexible plastic, and while they are based on sugar-cane material, they are technically identical to those produced using conventional plastic. The elements have been tested to ensure the plant-based plastic meets the high standards for quality and safety that the LEGO Group has, and consumers expect from LEGO products. Note that this is being deployed only for "botanical elements" (bushes, trees, …) currently.
  - ocdtrekkie 9y ago
    I read both of those facts, yes. But I've got LEGOs going back decades that demonstrate the actual long-term quality of the existing processes, we have yet to see how the new ones fare. And obviously, LEGO will presumably expand the usage of this process if it works well, is cost effective, or becomes generally preferred.
- theklub 9y ago
  Win-win for Lego, their parts don't last as long and its great for public image. Legos ending up in landfills isn't a real problem.

ndr 9y ago

I wonder what's the delta on the actual production process. It seems the pieces themselves won't have a great impact as they're super durable. Is the factory any more efficient for these new pieces?