2023-10-18 12:53:32
Say “Lego” is talking about the empire of plastic. Since the founder of the iconic toy brand, Be Kirk Christiansenbought its first molding machine in 1946, the parts were always made from petroleum, a non-renewable resource.
And the billions of “bricks” that it continues to manufacture each year are made of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), a material that – far from biodegrading – decomposes into highly polluting microplasticswhich can remain in the sea for up to a millennium.
After the success of Barbie, Lego CEO hints at plans for a new movie
In recent years, as the environmental awareness, the prestige of plastic did not stop falling. So much so, that the company had announced that it would start manufacturing its pieces with recycled bottles. The illusion was short-lived: last month he had to admit that the idea was a failure. He alternative plastic it was difficult to color and scaling for mass production.
And in their goal of making the new bricks rigid enough to achieve the brand’s characteristic fit, the engineers discovered that the material required treatments that involved such excessive energy use, that the new process would generate a carbon footprint even greater than the current one.
As the ABS production model involves consuming two liters of oil for every kilo of plastic produced, Lego maintains a team of 150 engineers who continue to explore alternatives, such as the use of a bioplastic based on Brazilian sugar cane, but it is not reaching the necessary hardness either.
This is Legoland: the place to live family adventures in central Florida
The company should accelerate its efforts; Last month it reported a 19% drop in its profits, the biggest drop in two decades. Awareness about the harmful consequences of plastic in the environment continues to grow, with news such as the appearance of old toys, including possible pieces of the brand, in what was once aa secret nuclear base in Poland.
That same durability could contain the answer to the company’s problems, which is already promoting – only for Canada and the United States – a project for which donate toys after receiving, sorting and washing the second-hand pieces.
As their sets have been assembled with compatible bricks for decades, they could also lower the impact by promoting the market for existing products, slowing down the pace of launches and even promoting initiatives to rent them. The new generations will be grateful.
TO JL
#Legos #lessons #excess #plastics