Lego’s biobased bricks; Vertoro’s green crude oil; nitogen-fixing microbes for corn; diapers from food waste; 3D imaging; Apeel’s $70M: The Digest’s Top 10 Innovations for the week of August 15th

The pace of invention and change is just too strong, we’ve realized, to highlight annual or even quarterly or monthly rankings and summaries of significant product and service advances. For now, we’re going to be tracking these on a weekly basis to keep pace with the changes. Here are the top innovations for the week of August 15th.

#1 LEGO letting go of petroleum-based blocks

In Denmark, the maker of ubiquitous LEGO-brand toy blocks launched its first items made from sugarcane-based polyethylene on August 1.

The sustainable blocks are shaped like plants and part of a “Plants from Plants” set that will come free with any online purchase over $40 shipped to United Kingdom, Germany and Australia through August 17 or shipped with the United States and Canada through August 14.

“At the LEGO Group we want to make a positive impact on the world around us, and are working hard to make great play products for children using sustainable materials,” Tim Brooks, Vice President of Environmental Responsibility at the LEGO Group. The company aims to roll out biobased plastics for most of its products by 2030.
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