Lego aim to make all bricks out of recycled plastic by 2032

Lego says it's on track to remove fossil fuels from its bricks by 2032 by using renewable or recycled plastic instead.

The popular plastic bricks are currently made from an oil-based material called ABS which isn't biodegradable and isn't easily recycled.

The Danish toymaker says they hope to change that, and already 22% of the plastic used in its bricks in the first half of 2024 came from renewable and recycled sources. That's up from 12% in 2023.

This is Lego's latest attempt to make their products more environmentally friendly after they dropped plans to make their bricks out of recycled bottles.

Why is Lego changing its bricks?

Plastic waste is a big problem for our planet.

In 2023, a group of scientists estimated that there are as many as 171 trillion pieces of plastic in our oceans - increasing from 15 trillion pieces in 2006.

Lead author of the research, Dr Marcus Eriksen, told BBC News this is because of new plastic entering our seas as well as old plastic breaking down into smaller pieces.

Scientists at the University of Plymouth say children's toys like Lego bricks could last between 100 and 1,300 years in our oceans.

Pieces of Lego are still being found on beaches after a cargo ship encountered a storm 30 years ago!

In 2021 Lego said it wanted to completely stop using the oil-based material to make its bricks and planned to make bricks from recycled water bottles.

But the idea was scrapped in 2023 after it was found that using recycled PET bottles didn't reduce carbon emissions.

Now Lego says that thanks to increased profits, they have since been able to invest in pricier but more environmentally friendly alternatives.