First sustainable Lego pieces to go on sale

The first sustainable Lego pieces will go on sale this year.

The Danish toymaker said production had started on a range of Lego botanical elements or pieces such as leaves, bushes and trees, made entirely from plant-based plastic.

"We are proud that the first Lego elements made from sustainably-sourced plastic are in production and will be in Lego boxes this year," Tim Brooks, the Lego Group's vice president for environmental responsibility, said in a statement.

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“This is a great first step in our ambitious commitment of making all Lego bricks using sustainable materials.”

Lego said that despite being based on sugarcane, quality would be maintained. “Children and parents will not notice any difference in the quality or appearance of the new elements, because plant-based polyethylene has the same properties as conventional polyethylene,” Brooks said.

The move “is part of Lego’s commitment to use more sustainable materials in its core products - including its eponymous bricks - and packaging by 2030,” says The Guardian.

However the polyethylene elements “will amount to only 1-2% of the total amount of plastic elements produced by the family-owned toymaker, one of the world’s most popular brands”.

The move “comes after reports that Lego pieces are regularly washing up on beaches along the South coast from Cornwall to Brighton, spoiling the scenery,” says the Daily Telegraph.

“It is thought that the phenomenon is due to nearly 4.8 million Lego toy parts falling overboard from a container ship in a storm off Land's End in 1997.”