A few days ago, Plastics News has reported that The LEGO Group has started their search to find a new sustainable resin to replace the existing ABS the company currently uses for their bricks by 2030. LEGO Senior Project Manager states, “I need to find a material that is just as good as this one. I need to find a material that will be just as good in 50 years, because these are passed down from generation to generation.”

Currently, the company has been testing bricks with an impact modified polylactic acid but this new test is not as promising yet. The issue with it is that a few weeks after molding, the bricks do not stay together as good as the traditional process does. One of the ways that LEGO measures the quality of the bricks is by testing the “clutch power.” A reason why these new bricks are failing the standards is because the machines that test the bricks are not compatible with the new materials.

LEGO uses more than 6,000 tons of plastic every year with 70% of the materials being Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) and it now wants to be more efficient in using the new materials which should benefit the company financially and environmentally.

Check out more details on what LEGO is planning to do in the near future in the article. Also, if you haven’t watched National Geographic’s Mega Factories episode of LEGO before, I highly recommend watching it below. Although the video is fairly old now, it’s still cool to watch.

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