Lego to replace plastic with sustainable material

[DetlefK]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/24/lego-plastic-sustainable-materials_n_7651190.html?utm_hp_ref=technology&ir=Technology

"The toy company announced this week that it plans to invest 1 billion Danish Krone (or about $150 million) over the next 15 years in a program to develop new “sustainable” materials which will eventually replace the plastic currently used to make its iconic building blocks. "

...

"Part of the investment will go the establishment of a Lego Sustainable Materials Centre in Denmark, which the company says will be staffed with more than 100 specialists. The centre is slated to open its doors by 2016. "



--------------------------------------

That won't be that tricky. The first plastic was Galalith. It was made from milk, but discontinued because crude oil turned out to be cheaper than milk.
Nowadays a variety of plastics based on sutainable chemicals (e.g. cellulose) exist. Lego just has to pick the kind of bioplastic it needs.

[Demeter]

1. Why not go classic--Lego wood

shakes head sadly

[DetlefK]

4. 6000 tons of Lego-pieces per year carved delicately from wood?

[daleanime]

2. If it's that easy.....

why 15 years?

[DetlefK]

5. To switch the factories to the new material.

New material means new procedures, new parameters like temperatures, heating- and cooling-procedures, pressures... Depending on what kind of bioplastic the choose, they might even go for producing that bioplastic themselves instead of buying it from a vendor.

You will have to reconfigure most of your machines in all your factories. And what if one kind of machine can't handle the new plastic? What if you have to replace this one kind of machine in all of your factories?

My guess is more like 5 years, but I guess they won't take risks by going too fast.

[MADem]

3. Hemp oil plastic!

[marble falls]

6. Bingo!

[mopinko]

7. that would be an awful lot of milk.

not sure how green that would actually be.

they need to make them out of something that would be recyclable.

[hunter]

8. I suspect it will be very tricky.

Lego's manufacturing skills with ABS are a very high art. Switching to another plastic, or even an ABS synthesized from "sustainable" sources, will not be a trivial task.

That's why it will take more than a 100 specialists and a billion dollars, just to start.

Of course, the research is likely to pay for itself in terms of patents, trade secrets, and experience. Reducing the toxic fumes associated with ABS manufacturing could be another plus.

[NickB79]

9. If not careful, they'll become like Mega-Bloks or KRE-O's

You can literally feel the inferior quality of the plastics used in these Lego wannabes, and it absolutely ruins the experience. It can be incredibly satisfying to hear and feel the "click" of well-made Lego blocks snapping together.