The difficulties of Lego to make toys without plastic

Metal and Paper straits are there to prove: companies have gradually begun to be pressed to use less plastic in their products, while consumers are more concerned about the amount of plastic they consume. It's still a much smaller move than it could be, but companies from other sectors — beyond the straits — have been trying to adapt their products. One of them is the Lego toy manufacturer, who for seven years has been trying to find a way to make his famous brick-fitting bricks be made of organic materials. Founded in 1932 and one of the largest toy manufacturers in the world, the Danish company bets on a formula based on plants. So far, the attempts were corn (which was very soft) to wheat (which did not absorb color), of which the company's chemists remove material that gives consistency to the product. So far, there have been more than 200 combinations of materials, but none have been achieving the same quality as the plastic, according to the Wall Street Journal. The goal is to banish almost completely, until 2030, the plastic of its more than 70 million pieces sold annually. For now, only 2% of Lego products are made of biodegradable plant plastic. Last year, the company launched, on the anniversary of 85 years, the first products made with bioplastics. The company announced that it is investing 1 billion crowns (about 583 million reais) and hiring people to ensure the success of the project. Present in more than 130 countries, Lego saw its revenues grow 4% in 2018 to 5.5 billion dollars, and has been having good news with the growth of sales in China, a market still poorly explored for the company. Almost as hard as going to the moon To the Wall Street Journal, the Director of environmental responsibility of Lego, Tim Guy Brooks, said replacing the plastic is "a bit like putting the man on the moon" because, when the lunar mission began to be planned, the technology to get there still did not exist and needed to be built. The director also cites the Meatless burgers, which, he said, were unthinkable ten years ago (today, companies like Beyond Meat have been making millions with the solution). While not reaching the perfect formula, Lego tries to reduce the use of non-renewable resources with what is within reach, and reduced the use of packaging by 18%. In the face of this scenario, not only has Lego been moving to make a traditional product adapt to a world with less plastic. The Ikea furniture manufacturer also seeks a replacement for plastics in their furniture. And in addition to durable goods such as furniture and toys, food and cosmetics companies like McDonald's, Coca Cola, Pepsi, Proctor & Gamble, Unilever and Nestlé are also committing to make their packaging, in the coming years, almost Entirely or entirely made up of renewable material, in addition to establishing recycling targets. The use of plastic — non-renewable and oil-made material, which is highly pollutant — is one of the world's biggest environmental problems today. More than 800,000 tonnes of plastic are thrown in the oceans every year from the coastal regions. The packages, discarded shortly after use and often used only once, account for 40% of the plastic used in the world. And less than a fifth of the world's plastic is recycled, according to a study by the University of California.