Plastic LEGO Pick a Brick cups no longer valid at LEGO Stores

The LEGO Group will no longer allow returning customers to fill plastic Pick a Brick cups in LEGO Stores, and will instead replace them with the new cardboard alternatives.

As part of its wider goal to make all its packaging sustainable by 2025, the company has started rolling out cardboard boxes in place of plastic cups for use on its in-store Pick a Brick walls. It’s now going one step further by stopping customers from reusing their existing plastic cups in store, which the LEGO Group says is due to ‘a few reasons’ – one of which is the need for specific tape to seal plastic cups, which will seemingly no longer be available in LEGO Stores.

Those stores that have already introduced cardboard packaging have apparently already stopped accepting plastic cups (your mileage may vary). Until January 31, 2024, staff members in stores will replace your plastic cups with the new cardboard alternatives free of charge – but from February onwards, you’ll no longer be able to perform a straight swap, and will instead need to purchase a reusable cardboard box.

If you’d like to hang on to your plastic Pick a Brick cups to use for sorting or storing elements at home, the obvious solution is to simply not bring them into stores (and instead buy a new cardboard box next time you hit up the Pick a Brick wall). What exactly the LEGO Group will do with the returned plastic cups is not clear at this stage, but the headline is that you can no longer use them in LEGO Stores.

Reducing the reusability of existing plastic cups will likely seem a strange move to most consumers, particularly in the face of the LEGO Group’s increasing shift towards sustainability. But it’s not massively surprising to see the company aim for consistency across its stores, too, ensuring that everyone has a universal experience with Pick a Brick packaging.

If you do have spare plastic cups sitting around and want to switch them out for their cardboard alternatives, you’ve got until January 31, 2024 to do so.

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