If you were to guess what brand is the world’s largest tire manufacturer, what’s your call? Does French giant Michelin have the global recognition to come out on top? Does the sheer brand spread of Goodyear put it in the lead? How about Continental? Actually, it’s none of those. The world’s largest tire manufacturer is Lego. Yep, the toy company. In a way, it’s also the smallest maker of tires. Or, at least, the maker of the smallest tires.
Alright, so the tiny rubber tires on cars made of little bricks aren’t known for the same performance as say, the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2R or the Pirelli PZero Trofeo RS, but Lego makes more than 300 million tires per year. That’s about 50 percent more than Michelin’s annual production, and with new kits being rolled out all the time, Lego doesn’t seem to be giving up the crown anytime soon.
However, that doesn’t mean it’s not time for change, and the Lego tires of the future are going to be a bit kinder to the earth than the Lego tires of the past. A few weeks ago, the company announced tires made with at least 30 percent recycled content, mostly old fishing nets, ropes, and engine oil. If we’re getting technical, it’s a recycled styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene blend, a type of thermoplastic elastomer.
While this isn’t the same as using 100 percent recycled materials, turning old trash into new solid tire compounds makes a ton of sense, especially given how Lego tires aren’t exactly subject to high forces. Sure, those scale Technics models look really cool, but I’m doubtful they’ll experience say, the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca.
Interestingly enough, companies that make tires for full-sized cars are also on the recycling train. Continental uses recycled polyethylene terephthalate to make the polyester fabric used for tire carcasses, currently using up to 15 bottles per tire. Sure, this isn’t the same as using sea trash to make tire compounds, but if recycled materials are good enough for 300-treadwear summer tires, they’re probably good enough for the toys on your mantle, right?
So, how will you be able to tell Lego’s partially recycled tires from its old ones? Well, that’s the trick, you won’t. The first styles of these tires are already being used in multiple Lego sets, and the company claims that more than 120 sets will use the new tire tech by the end of the year.
Admittedly, it’s been a while since I last picked up a Lego set. I used to have a ton of fun playing with bricks as a kid, and although changing to partially recycled tires probably wouldn’t make it more likely that I buy some bricks, it certainly doesn’t hurt. No matter which side of the fence you’re on, times like the here and now could use a little extra whimsy. If that whimsy’s partially recycled, well, that’s kinda nice, isn’t it?
Top photo credit: Lego
Support our mission of championing car culture by becoming an Official Autopian Member.
-
Why The Formula 1 Lego Partnership Is A Huge Deal
-
Watch F1 Driver Lando Norris Take A Life-Sized Lego McLaren P1 Around Silverstone
-
Watch A Crafty Lego Video Show How Driving On Slippery Surfaces Works But On A Small Scale
-
Someone Made LEGO Instructions For An Extremely Obscure Dodge ‘Dreamer’ Pickup Camper (One Of Which Is Now For Sale For $3300)
-
This Brilliant Lego Video Shows The Different Ways Off-Road Gear Keeps You Moving On A Trail
Please send tips about cool car things to tips@theautopian.com. You could even win a prize!
I’m mildly surprised at the somewhat low recycled content, since as you state they aren’t performance tires. Michelin is currently the tire supplier for MotoGP and MotoE (but Pirelli will take over in 2027), and since MotoE is similarly focused on sustainability, Michelin are at 50% recycled content. And those are race tires on heavy and torquey bikes. But I’m sure they have stricter requirements for what recycled content they use compared to LEGO.
Nope! Mattel makes smaller tires for the various premium Hot Wheels lines.
Good for LEGO.
But their old style tires were more chewy, and tasted better on smores.
There has to be a way to scale test this. Like what is the scale performance of LEGO tires (which do vary in compound, tread, and stiffness) compared to fullsize car tires?
A quick google search shows some RC cars hitting 4Gs in cornering force.
I’d love to see a Lego tire on a high-end adult hobby RC car to find out if the tire is remotely close.
That should be doable for the larger Technic tires like on the trucks and F1 cars. My Lego Unimog has about the same diameter tires as my Team Associated buggy, just need to 3D print a wheel adaptor.
That sounds really cool, I’d love to see the result
Sounds like a challenge. How many memberships do I have to gift to make this happen? 😉
Lego made an attempt at using more recylable materials in their bricks and it did not go as well as hoped. I suspect that the actual fitting of pieces together didn’t provide adequate stickion. Since tires are not reliant on the studs for attachment, rather through the center-fit, tires are much better target for testing reclcyable materials.
they have made good strides into making them more sustainable using a plant based ABS, some of those parts have been widely used in sets for a few years now.
Just please don’t ever let these things burn. That’s a lot of styrene.
15 Bottles per tire? Are they really small bottles? Do they open each bottle one at a time? So many questions. Lol
Lego are actually a great carbon sink, because they last forever and no one throws them away. If we could use excess solar power to do direct air capture of CO2 and make the byproduct hydrocarbons into Lego, we’d have a real solution to climate change!
I actually talked to a lady recently who said she threw away her kid’s LEGO when he went to college and I died a little inside. I showed her what even bulk brick boxes sell for on eBay, let alone complete sets, and her eyes got really wide.
My parents wisely saved ALL my childhood LEGO, and while I’ve taken much of it back for my own children, there’s still an entire closet full of sets and pieces. My problem is I’ve added so much to my own LEGO collection, I don’t have any room left for the rest of my childhood bricks.
I got older and gave all mine to my nephew. Then a few years later I had a son and had to start fresh. Lost so many good star wars sets.
I inherited a bunch of Lego from my dad and uncles when I was a kid; together with the sets I got myself, all of this was handed to my nephew. They got their first sets in 1958. Then it all came back to me and now I am playing with these with my son. Even the oldest pieces are fine (some have shattered due to age and my four-year-old’s heavy hands). Almost everything still works with everything; some old propeller mounts, over fifty years old, still fit with brand new pieces.
Standardization is liberating when done right.
Yep, that’s the power of the LEGO System. The genius of LEGO though is that their standardization rules still allow for an immense amount of brick design freedom within them, as evidenced by the over 9000 unique brick designs (not including color variations).
Even DUPLO will work with standard bricks, and many large diorama builders actually use DUPLO as the skeleton for supporting mountains, towers, etc.
Couple those design rules with a rigid commitment to quality material and process control, and you have heirloom toys that last for generations.
Up to 15 bottles per tire. So, what’s the largest, heaviest load tire they make, I wonder.
Go back and read it again. It’s Continental, not Lego, that’s using 15 recycled bottles per tire.
Yeah, that’s not exactly what is says.
“recycled polyethylene terephthalate…currently using up to 15 bottles per tire” makes it sounds as if it’s a liquid being added from a bottle.
A purely lame pedantry joke on my part not meant to be taken seriously. Real humor is hard and I’m pretty soft.
Sorry.
No need. Again, I was being a shit.
Building with Lego should be a requirement for every 4-8 year old boy (and great for girls too). And not model specific kits. Just a variety of blocks and your imagination.
For 30 years I’ve been involved in schemes to promote STEM careers for women, and here we are still adding “and girls” in brackets after anything remotely technical.
We already have a surplus of STEM workers, why add more fuel to the fire? Send those women into MBA programs instead.
Don’t follow your dreams! Don’t try to do anything interesting or different that advances knowledge! Just do whatever companies say you should do!
Yes indeed. Follow your dreams…to massive student debt and no job offers.
You’re gonna have debt regardless of what degree you get. May as well get it in something that you enjoy. The actual specific degree you have has also become less important these days – companies just want people who are put together, interview and communicate well, know how technology works, and show up every day.
Also LMAO “send them” like they have no autonomy to make choices for themselves.
There’s a middle ground between where you two are positioned. Do something that you love that can also realistically provide you with stable income to support yourself.
My oldest kid in middle school really wanted to be an illustrator last year. She’s great at art, but the chances at making a decent living drawing pictures is not great.
But, that doesn’t mean she can’t go into a field that uses her creative side. She can get into graphic or web design. Or, go into a field that you may not love but that is in high demand, and then do what you love on the side.
(PS, I would never hire someone fresh out of college to my team who just is a hard worker with a general idea of how technology works. Those traits are fantastic, but unfortunately do not mean someone will be able to understand complex ERP systems and their code. Degrees and experience in specific subject matters absolutely still matter).
Soooo, how does a fresh college grad get experience, if no one will hire them without experience? This is part of problem with tight labor budgets, can’t bring on greens to learn the ropes without impacting team performance.
This isn’t a new problem but there are many ways now to get a foot hold in industry. Hopefully you completed some internships or paid co-op program (I went specifically to a college that offered that 25 years ago because it is so important), I am seeing around $24-$26/hr for co-ops now in my area. Those folks, assuming they are worth keeping around, will likely get a chance at the company they have experience with or will leverage that experience so they don’t have to list jobs on a resume that have transferable skills.
My son (computer science) has commented that many computer science jobs do not count internship experience as applicable ‘experience’. Luckily, when he graduated, DoD was heavily recruiting for new blood, so his first job involved learning/using/migrating the old software from ‘old timers’ to newer platforms, so gave him leg up when time for new job.
One of his friends recently graduated, but no luck landing any entry level comp.sci job. Delivering food.
My personal way around that problem was to find a niche within IT. I graduated back in 2008 in the fun recession days, and had to take an internship AFTER graduating… but I was able to find one and turn it into a job and then career because of said niche. Many of my friends in adjacent programs without a niche were left doing things like landscaping and construction for a bit.
It’s even worse now days with offshore IT resources competing as remote work is now common. I have devs from both the US and India on my team. There is a bit of a time and language barrier with the folks from India, but man… it is so hard to justify hiring someone local when they cost literally 4-5x more.
My best advice would be to do whatever he can to hone his interpersonal and communication skills. There are so many IT professionals that are fantastic in the technical stuff, but struggle to even write emails clearly or interact with others on calls. I’d much rather get someone a little green in the hard skills but fantastic in the soft skills than the other way around.
My sister who loved to draw ended up being an architect. Though I”m not sure that’s a good career path right now.
I have a cousin who studied to be an architect. They only lasted about 2-3 years doing an apprenticeship and are now doing something completely different in the business world.
“The actual specific degree you have has also become less important these days – companies just want people who are put together, interview and communicate well, know how technology works, and show up every day.”
That was not my experience whatsoever. Very specific experience matters in STEM to the point its used to filter otherwise highly qualified candidates. A 90% match is not good enough to even get a call back.
Exactly! This is why I feel we appear to have a ‘shortage’ of STEM candidates. They are filtering for the 100% matches. Majority of potential candidates could/would quickly adapt/learn…how do they think STEM folk successfully graduated in 1st place?? Every place I’ve worked has had their own system/responsibility scope/way of doing things for seemingly same positions.
All the engineering companies I know claim there is a shortage of engineers. Maybe in the US it’s different.
Either way there should be gender equality in the industry, and also in any unemployed surplus.
My field of engineering absolutely has a shortage of engineers in the US.
How do you know?
My firm is actively trying to double our engineers this calendar year. We are really struggling to find them.
STEM is a big, big umbrella. My experiences in the “S of STEM is completely the opposite.
Sure companies might SAY they can’t find people but I’ve found there are many other reasons for the “difficulty” other than a scarcity of qualified candidates.
Forgot too add:
Focuses on only poaching from competitors rather than hiring from the pool of unemployed
I can’t speak for all of STEM, and I don’t attempt to. I just know first-hand that the MEP field has a shortage of engineers (Electrical much more scarce than Mechanical). This has been an issue since 2020 or so. That I attribute to a few things:
There was a construction boom when covid hit. Financing was dirt cheap so developers were jumping at opportunities. Causing MEP firms to see increases to our demand, that haven’t decreased since then.New grads now often have their job lined up before their senior year of school, which greatly limits the pool for entry level positions.When the pool of available engineers dried up, firms had to greatly increase salaries to entice new hires, which then caused them to have to increase salaries in house, to fight poaching, which then lead to far fewer people wanting to leave their current jobs. It’s a interesting circle they created.
This may be an issue unique to my location, as there are quite a few MEP firms here, but the shortage is real here and really favors the employee. I myself leveraged the market twice in the last 4 year to great benefit.
If the field is so wanting perhaps you can lure in David Tracy – after all he’s a degree’d mechanical engineer and has work experience designing cooling systems for Chrysler. I’m pretty sure he’s currently paid in wheelbarrow shrimp, exotic rust and 10% off coupons for junkyard parts so surely you can come up with a better package than that.
David is one of the rare examples of an ME in a different field, that has experience that would nearly directly translate into the MEP field. We could definitely beat the rust and junkyard pay package, but he would have to leave behind that California lifestyle.
Ok. You know where to find him. Make sure to split the referral with me.
My experience is that there are always MEP jobs as you say, but they universally require significant MEP experience. They do not take MEs from other areas. All they want is to poach from competitors.
We will absolutely hire ME’s from other fields, if they are willing and have a desire to learn. But, the hangup is we usually can’t justify paying them based on their years of experience in other fields. So, it would be a paycut and taking a more entry level title. I’ve seen that prevent many from coming to the MEP world. I would expect the same paycut and lower title if I switched to a different ME field.
That said, it is significantly easier for us to find ME’s than it is to find EE’s.
Wow, this is hard to read. I had it formatted in a bulleted list when I posted it. Not sure why the formatting is gone.
You forgot one! Hiring managers letting AI sift through resumes…
How could I miss that one?!
Keep ’em coming!
Same – we can find recent grads alright, and we do NOT expect them to come with five years’ experience in the field – but they literally cannot draw anything. Not even a cube. And apparently no one taught them concepts like “elevation” and “section”.
I typically assume any new grad will take 6 months or more to be productive. It’s a time and financial investment. But I actually prefer new grads, you don’t have to unteach them bad methods.
we absolutely do not need more MBAs. holy shit!
I had an old job in educational administration (Govt’ sector not business) where my direct supervisor and his direct supervisor both had MBA’s and were sociopathic bullying middle managers. By the time I left they convinced one of my direct reports to enroll in an MBA program as well. I always wanted to ask them why none of them were putting their degrees to use by working in the private sector.
Money talks. How’s the typical MBA lifetime earning potential compare to someone working in their field with a masters or doctorate degree in STEM, especially against the work and cost to obtain that degree?
Problem for many STEM people is they loathe taking on management type positions since most are not, by nature, a-holes and don’t derive pleasure from scheming/backstabbing.
Unfortunately, MBA/management roles always pay better than experienced tech.
Pretty sure scheming/backstabbing C level a-holes goes a lot further to explain any “STEM shortage” than too few STEM trained workers
Bingo!
That’s pretty much how I ended up doing IT for nearly a decade. I convinced myself that what I really wanted to do (become an airline pilot or write about cars) wasn’t going to pay the bills or would have put me too far deep into debt.
Granted, I do recall that when I graduated from high school, commercial pilot training would have put me deep into the red and pay at regional airlines was awful. Anyway, I decided to go into IT since I already knew how to do a lot of that and was quickly able to find work in the field.
But oof, it was hard learning that the career I chose sucked the enthusiasm out of me. I thought since I loved building computers and messing around with software I’d probably like a career in IT. I managed to rise from fixing broken phones and restoring workstations to Java programming, too. But nope, it just ruined my passion for computers for long enough that I didn’t really get back into it until now. That message David sent me one day in 2020 was a gosh darned lifeline. ♥
“But oof, it was hard learning that the career I chose sucked the enthusiasm out of me.”
All that pretty much describes my experience in graduate school. Nothing will crush a spirit quite like it.
Nay, send them into the trades. I know some badass female carpenters and firefighters and we need more.
That works too for those so inclined.
Those Lego sets (Lego Friends?) aimed at girls make me kind of sick. Just make Lego.
Some kids LIKE girlie girl stuff.
Sure, but when the girlie sets are not as good to play with I’m offended. For instance, the “mini doll” figures are not really compatible with Lego because they had to be made cuter than the classic minifig. The sets we have all seemed to have lots of special pieces that are not universally useful (because so many pieces have prints, or they’re just a large item with two Lego studs tacked onto the side).
But if it gets some kid into Lego who wouldn’t have played with it otherwise, then sure, that’s a good thing.
I guess the market will decide whether they are good or not.
The Autopian oughta do an annual instrumented comparison test of the different tires available on Lego vehicles.
Engineer a spec racecar & spec offroad rig with Technic parts and see which tires work best on various surfaces. Regular bricks, smooth bricks (the ones without studs on top, forgetting the official name), carpet, hardwood floor, dirt, grass, maybe even some rock crawling. You could do small & full-size builds too, with fully functioning suspension so the tests can be as wild as possible.
Your team combines engineering knowhow and creative freedom better than any other publication. I have no doubt you could all make it happen, on a “world’s greatest drag race” level of production quality and internet fame.
Do it 🙂
the flat ones with studs on top are called plates and the smooth ones are called tiles.
themoreyouknow.gif
I think we found the AFOL.
I have gotten many sets since/because of covid. I don’t have a whole city thing going on or like that though, lol.
I didn’t know AFOL was a named thing until recently. lol
I like the modular buildings, original trilogy Star Wars sets (UCS Millenium Falcon), and some Batman sets (89 Batmobile, 89 Batwing, Adam West Batmobile). I was also working on a MOC for the Death Star docking bay to display the falcon until I lost interest.
They’re gonna need a lot more Corinthian Leather members if this is going to happen. I love LEGO models, but they are sooo expensive.
You can find dozens of such comparison videos on youtube! Most technic youtubers end up comparing tire performance at some point.
If my own house is any example, you can find at least half of all LEGO tires ever produced inside your nearest vacuum cleaner.
If I had one piece of feedback for Dyson, it would be that all their vacuums be able to handle a standard 2×4 brick without clogging the one-way valve, requiring microsurgery on the vacuum to repair.
I do not say this from experience, just spitballing here.
My kids are now twenty-something adults, but we still have random lego pieces appear on the floor. The cats must have a stash somewhere.