Lego is finally making its iconic bricks from recycled plastic

Lego is finally on its way to making its iconic toy bricks more sustainable. The toymaker unveiled this week a prototype brick made entirely of recycled plastic — but it's not yet available in stores. 

On Wednesday, Lego announced that its latest design is the first made from recycled material that has passed its "strict" quality, safety and play requirements, following several iterations that were not durable enough. The company called it "the latest step in its journey to make Lego products from sustainable materials." The new prototype is made using polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycled from bottles that have been thrown away. According to a statement from the company, scientists and engineers tested over 250 variations of PET materials, as well as hundreds of other plastic formulations, before nailing down the latest prototype.