Toymaker Lego will stick to its quest to find sustainable materials despite failed recycle attempt

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Denmark’s Lego said on Monday that it remains committed to its quest to find sustainable materials to reduce carbon emissions, even after an experiment by the world’s largest toymaker to use recycled bottles did not work.

Lego said it has “decided not to progress” with making its trademark colorful bricks from recycled plastic bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate, known as PET, and after more than two years of testing “found the material didn’t reduce carbon emissions.”

Still, the toymaker remains “fully committed to making Lego bricks from sustainable materials by 2032,” it added

Two years ago, the privately-held group which makes its bricks out of oil-based plastic, started researching a potential transition to recycled plastic bottles made of PET plastic, which doesn’t degrade in quality when recycled.

It had invested “more than $1.2 billion in sustainability initiatives” as part of efforts to transition to more sustainable materials and reduce our carbon emissions by 37% by 2032, Lego said.

The company said it was “currently testing and developing Lego bricks made from a range of alternative sustainable materials, including other recycled plastics and plastics made from alternative sources such as e-methanol.”