It’s expensive to make sustainable products. Just ask Lego

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The world's largest toy maker says the plan to make its famous bricks from recycled plastic bottles just doesn't stack up. Lego is scrapping the yearslong pursuit, explaining that the manufacturing process would actually be more polluting than its current production of oil-based bricks. Lego’s swing-and-miss on recycled materials highlights the challenge companies face in adapting their products and processes in response to the climate crisis.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

• Two years ago, Lego unveiled a prototype brick made from recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET), sourced from bottles typically used for water or soda. It was meant to be a more climate-friendly alternative to the oil-based acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plastic used in the majority of Lego toys.
• But the Danish company says after years of trying, it determined that the new equipment and additional steps needed to switch to PET would give off more planet-heating pollution than current production.
• Another reason it wasn’t a fit: Lego says bricks made of the recycled plastic weren’t as durable and lacked the brand’s famous "clutch power" of sticking tightly together while pulling apart easily.?

BREAKING DOWN THE PROBLEM WITH PLASTICS

• Judith Enck, a former EPA regional administrator and now president of the non-profit Beyond Plastics, tells CNN she's not surprised by Lego's failed foray into repurposing plastic. "Plastics recycling is really hard to do,” she says, because plastics are “made from thousands of different chemicals and chemical additives, and many different colors.” When you mix all that together, “You don't have a really good material that lends itself to something like making Lego blocks.”
• Only 5-6% of all plastics are recycled in the US, Beyond Plastics says. It’s only about 9% across the globe, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
• The process of making plastic is so energy intensive that if the plastics industry were a country, it would be the fifth largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, a 2021 report from Beyond Plastics found.
• “Our markets [are] simply flooded with plastics” stemming from a glut of chemical byproduct from hydraulic fracturing (aka "fracking"), Enck says . “That makes plastic cheap for businesses.”

BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD

• Lego says it isn’t giving up and remains “fully committed to making Lego bricks from sustainable materials by 2032.” A company spokesperson tells CNN that recycled PET is just one of hundreds of possible replacement materials Lego has tested.
• Enck recommends Lego turn to an entirely different material: “I appreciate Lego making the effort, but if they are serious about environmental sustainability … they should stop using plastic.” Enck suggests compressed cardboard, recycled metal or even wood.
• Lego has long been a target of climate advocates. Lego bricks, which surged in sales during the pandemic, require 90,000 metric tons of plastic a year to make. And because Lego bricks can’t be recycled – and not everyone donates their used sets to someone else as Lego recommends – a portion of that plastic ends up in landfills and polluting ecosystems like the oceans.
• A 2020 study looked at Lego bricks that washed up on beaches of southwest England. Researchers estimated it would take between 100 and 1,300 years for one of the famously durable Lego bricks to break down in oceans.

BIG PICTURE?

• Both the production and discarding of plastic are having devastating effects on the planet, from greenhouse gas emissions that fuel climate change to clogging waterways and accumulating in oceans.
• The world’s oceans are polluted by an estimated 171 trillion plastic particles that if clumped together would weigh 2.3 million tons, according to a study this year.?
• Other toy companies have said they’re cutting back on plastic to reduce waste. Barbie-maker Mattel has committed to using 100% recycled, recyclable or bio-based plastic materials in all of its products and packaging by 2030. It already has a plant-based version of Mega Bloks, its line of building blocks for preschoolers, which are larger and softer than Lego bricks.

Are you trying to trim plastics from your life? Do you have unused Legos laying around? Are you a Lego enthusiast who worries the classic toy’s quality will suffer in the push to go sustainable? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Interested in minimizing your plastic impact on Earth? Read more here about steps you can take and sign up for CNN’s Life, But Greener newsletter .

Here are some other stories we're following today:

Government shutdown watch: If you were hoping for a rosier status update on this today, our apologies. Behind closed doors in the House, Speaker Kevin McCarthy reportedly got into it with fellow Republican Matt Gaetz, one of the hard-liners who has led the charge on threatening to strip McCarthy of the speakership if he compromises to avoid the looming government shutdown. With funding set to run out at the end of Saturday, the House still plans to vote on a short-term bill that hard-liners oppose, and the Senate is working on a bipartisan bill that one GOP senator is threatening to slow-walk past the shutdown deadline.

GOP takes on Biden: House Republicans held their first impeachment inquiry hearing into President Joe Biden today. Republican leaders have so far failed to show any evidence that the president corruptly benefited from his son Hunter's business dealings. Today's hearing before the House Oversight Committee lays the groundwork for Republicans’ impeachment inquiry, which Democrats say is an attempt to muddy the waters around former President and GOP front-runner Donald Trump, who faces four criminal indictments .

Delta deals with backlash: Delta CEO Ed Bastian admits the airline "probably went too far" in overhauling its SkyMiles program and lounge access policy. Many Delta frequent flyers expressed outrage over the changes announced this month, which include drastically increasing the annual spending requirements to earn elite status. Bastian says more changes are coming after the airline received "a lot of feedback."

Millennium mortgage rates: The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage in the US climbed to 7.31% for the week ending Sept. 28, the highest level since the turn of the millennium. Pending home sales meanwhile dropped 7.1% in August from the month prior after two back-to-back months of gains.

Help for mental health: The Biden administration announces $232 million in grants to help address "alarming" suicide rate in the United States. Funding will largely help "at-risk" communities build out capacity for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline that launched last year. The number was changed to make it easier to remember, but it's still suffering major awareness problems.

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