Lego Ditches Plans To Use Recycled Plastic: A Commentary

 

Photo: Freebie Supply

 

After deliberation, experimentation, and whatever the heck else the company did, Lego has abandoned plans to make its bricks out of recycled plastic.This contradicts their pledge to only use recycled materials by 2032. The company said it spent years testing the process to make their bricks from PET recycled plastic but they decided "screw it, we're quitting this shit and our pledge" for numerous reasons.

PET plastic is what's used to make water bottles, soda bottles, containers, and a bunch of other stuff. As we all know, plastic water bottles are one of the biggest culprits to clogging up landfills and pollution, especially in the ocean where those damn things can be found floating in the most obscure places. According to National Geographic, half of all plastic pollution is submerged below the ocean surface. 

Lego officials said they discovered that making the bricks from used plastic bottles and other plastic materials would require the company to invest in new equipment and involve more steps in the production process, which according to them, would actually increase its carbon footprint on the environment. They also claim that Lego pieces made from recycle plastic are not as durable as those made using their current oil-based formula. So, after putting pencil to paper and doing whatever executives do behind close doors to make decisions based on short term profits vs. long term thinking to save the environment and natural resources, they opted to ditch the idea. They will stick to making oil-based bricks. 

Photo: Wired

The problem I have with this decision are numerous and it would end up infuriating me more than I am now. I 'm sure Lego would have no issue buying new equipment if they came out with a new line of products / toys. The "it's too costly to convert" argument is the kind of myopic thinking that corporations use to justify decisions to reward executives, appease shareholders, and protect profits over the environment.

I have no doubt that its expensive to invest in new equipment to upgrade their manufacturing plants and that the process to convert to using recycle plastic would add a few more steps to the production process. And that it would take them longer to reap the ROI, but it in the long run it would be worth it. It would make the company less reliant on oil, more efficient long term, and ultimately less of a polluter (because drilling for oil and then having it go through the refinement process to make it usable for manufacturers is a huge carbon footprint on the planet). 

In the meantime, Lego will continue to make their bricks using their current oil-based formula. Guess who else continues to get rich from this: the petroleum industry. Keep on drilling. 

  Source: CNN; The Guardian; National Geographic