Lego ditching plastic bags for paper ones in its boxed sets for the environment

Lego says it will stop using plastic bags inside its boxed sets and replace them with paper ones.

The Danish toymaker will start making the switch next year and expects plastic bags to be completely phased out over the next five years.

The bags are used to hold loose bricks in boxed sets. Like other big brands, Lego wants to cut plastic use to please customers worried about how the environmental impact. Monopoly maker Hasbro also plans to eliminate plastics in its packaging.

Plastic doesn’t disintegrate. Instead, it breaks down into tiny pieces that can be eaten by birds or other wildlife, endangering their health.

Lego’s colorful bricks also are made of plastic, but the company has had trouble finding another material as durable. About 2% of its pieces, such as Lego trees and bushes, are made of sugar cane,

Lego said kids wrote the company asking it to drop the plastic bags, which are recyclable and which the company says are easier for kids to open.

“We have been exploring alternatives for some time, and the passion and ideas from children inspired us to begin to make the change,” says Niels B. Christiansen, Lego’s chief executive officer.