LEGO bioplastic bricks, castor bean coats, world’s first hydrogen powered ferry and carrier ship, and more: The Digest’s Top 10 Innovations for the week of December 20th

#3 LEGO launches first block set made from bioplastic

In Denmark, LEGO, the maker of the popular children’s interlocking bricks, has launched its first kit made from bioplastic.

The kit—appropriately designed to make a treehouse—uses sugarcane-based polyethylene. “All sets with LEGO trees, leaves, and bushes in our LEGO sets—80 different elements—are now [also] made from plant-based plastic,” Matt Whitby, Environmental Engagement Manager of the LEGO group, told Forbes.

LEGO has historically used acrylonitrile butadiene styrene to produce its nearly 19 million bricks a year. In 2015, it announced a $1-billion plan to make all its bricks sustainable by 2030.

Whitby adds that finding a material with the right properties has been the biggest challenge. “”Most importantly, the bricks need clutch power, the flexibility that enables bricks to be put together and taken apart by a child,” he says.
More on the story, here.