Hapori Tohu Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 The LEGO Group has begun their move away from oil-based plastics! As they announced in their newsroom, starting later this year parts made from polyethylene plastic such as leaves, bushes, and trees will be moved over to plant-based plastic sourced from sugarcane. According to the press release, the old and new plastic will have the same appearance and properties and be virtually identical to each other. Parts made from ABS will be unchanged for now. The parts have gone through the same rigorous safety testing as traditional elements but have the advantage of being sustainably sourced. How do you feel about this change? Are you going to stock up on old trees or embrace the new ones? Let us know in the Talkback! View the full article Quote News Forums Q&A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHTrilogy Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 Does that mean they'll be cheaper now? Quote ~ CHTrilogy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TERIDAX941 Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 Does that mean they'll be cheaper now?One can only hope... Quote Formerly Iron_Man5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liopleurodon Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 This is pretty cool news! It's great to hear that Lego has found a way to use plant-based plastics while still maintaining good quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bfahome Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 *late 2000s meme voice* yo dawg, 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aanchir Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 (edited) Does that mean they'll be cheaper now?Currently, there's not a big difference in price between oil-based plastics and bioplastics. Plant-based bioplastics actually used to be MORE expensive, but as the technology's evolved and become more widely adopted it's gotten cheaper while the cost of oil-based plastics has continued to increase. Those trends may continue, but I don't think it would have a huge impact on the cost of LEGO sets, as the cost of the plastic itself makes up only a small part of the cost of a set. If anything, as LEGO expands their use of bioplastics, we may see piece counts rise faster than prices. Edited March 1, 2018 by Aanchir 2 Quote Latest MOC: PAIGE (Prototype Artificial Intelligence, Gynoid Expression) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ta-metru_defender Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 This is dope. 1 Quote Hand-drawn, bespoke avatar by none other than Mushy the Mushroom. a body adrift in water, salt, and sky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToaTImeLord Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 Awesome job Lego in helping the planet. Quote Hey I got a Flickr because I like making LEGO stuff. https://www.flickr.com/people/toatimelord/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danny316p Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 How will we tell the "old" and the "new" apart? This is pretty cool news! It's great to hear that Lego has found a way to use plant-based plastics while still maintaining good quality. I figured it was a matter of time after one of the clone brands announced that they'd done it. I figure the bits in the press release about the Chain of Custody and Code of Conduct are why it took so long - and if not, that was brilliant PR spin. We're not falling behind, we just take corporate responsibility more seriously! *late 2000s meme voice* yo dawg, *2010s meme voice* I understood that reference. Does that mean they'll be cheaper now?Currently, there's not a big difference in price between oil-based plastics and bioplastics. Plant-based bioplastics actually used to be MORE expensive, but as the technology's evolved and become more widely adopted it's gotten cheaper while the cost of oil-based plastics has continued to increase.Those trends may continue, but I don't think it would have a huge impact on the cost of LEGO sets, as the cost of the plastic itself makes up only a small part of the cost of a set. If anything, as LEGO expands their use of bioplastics, we may see piece counts rise faster than prices. I remember that trend hitting pretty strongly around the 2008-9 sets. A few set designers said things about how the lower cost of oil at the time meant that they could squeeze more parts into moderate Agents price points. This is dope.No, not hemp, sugarcane! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aanchir Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 How will we tell the "old" and the "new" apart? Ideally, you shouldn't be able to. After all, this is just a different process for creating the same compound (ethylene) which is used to make polyethylene plastic. It's not as though they're switching from polyethylene to another type of plastic that has different physical properties, or changing the actual process of turning the plastic granulate into bricks. 2 Quote Latest MOC: PAIGE (Prototype Artificial Intelligence, Gynoid Expression) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noble Tehurye Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 This is atrocious. Lego's just making a grab for the moral high ground. I prefer the negative impact that oil-based plastics have on the environment. seriously though this is pretty cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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