Lego reveals a recycled plastic brick prototype

The company behind the world’s favourite sole destroyers, Lego, has vowed to construct all of its products from sustainable materials by 2030. That gives it nine years to turn all of its tiny plastic bricks into something more… green. 

With that in mind, the toy company has revealed a brick prototype made entirely from recycled plastic. Not just any plastic, mind you. “The new prototype, which uses PET plastic from discarded bottles, is the first brick made from a recycled material to meet the company’s strict quality and safety requirements,” says the Lego Group in a statement.

Lego, but make it hippie

Now, just to clear it up — ‘PET’ is polyethylene terephthalate, and is the plastic you’ll commonly find in bottles and food containers. Lego has been experimenting with PET plastic replacements for years, and it’s tested well over 250 different types. You can’t just use any plastic — it has a legacy to uphold in terms of brick strength requirements. 

Read more: Adidas has a pair of customisable Lego shoes

While they’re really cool, the company isn’t ready to roll out their ‘green’ bricks just yet. It plans to take “some time” to test and verify the bricks to make sure they’re market-ready. According to the statement, these will go through at least a year of testing before making it to shelves. 

The whole point? Lego would prefer new recycled bricks to look, feel and function exactly as the old plastic bricks did. They have to last just as long, if not longer, and have the capacity to destroy big toes just as the older generation could.