In 1997, the massive ship Tokio Express set out for New York after loading hundreds of containers in Rotterdam, Netherlands. On the way, a giant wave of about 9 meters hit the boat. Interestingly, that ship was carrying one of 62 containers. five million Lego piecesThey got lost in the ocean. The event, known as the Great Lego Spill (as in oil), is the worst toy-related environmental disaster in history.

The captain of the Tokyo Express described the Feb. 13 wave as a “once-in-100-year event” that rocked the ship from side to side. According to the cargo inventory, there were 4 million 756 thousand 940 Lego pieces in the container, and 3 million 178 thousand 807 of them were light enough to float.

And to the surprise of the residents, these pieces They have been appearing for years on beaches near the crash site. Colorful not only then, but in the last 25 years bricks Ocean-themed Lego: octopuses, various diving equipment, square whales and other plastic pieces. This sparked a movement of collectors going to various places in search of “rare” pieces in the sand.

Tracey Williams, an environmentalist and local activist from Cornwall, began collecting these Legos in South Devon, England, in 1997, shortly after the accident. Today, he documents the phenomenon on social media on his “Lego Lost at Sea” page, where people share photos of Legos they find on beaches. recently published Adrift: The Interesting Story of Lego Lost in the SeaA book detailing the Lego incident.

Williams and his family have collected hundreds of Lego bricks from that cargo ship: “It started out as a little fun and now it’s a full-time job. I think it’s very interesting to be able to see the impact of the cargo being transported, the loss and how hard it is.”

There is actually even an inventory of what came in the original shipment. Container transported, among other parts 28,700 yellow inflatable rafts52,000 red moths, 4,200 black octopuses, 33,427 black dragons, 514 green dragons and more than 15,000 sharks. Another matter of curiosity is that not a single shark has ever been found; These were probably heavier and fell to the bottom of the sea. In 2015, the BBC even mapped more than 40 beach locations in Cornwall where people had collected some artifacts.

On the company side, Lego made a statement after the accident encouraging citizens to find and keep the parts. The company has also opened a communications tool so people can call and let them know where they got their parts so the company can assist with cleanup operations.

An environmental disaster

This phenomenon has concerned a broad sector of environmental activism since the 1990s, with pieces not floating in the sea and ending up on beaches. When scientists analyzed the structure of eroded beach Legos using X-ray fluorescence, they found that ship Legos from 1997 It may take up to 1,300 years to decompose Completely, as described in the journal Environmental Pollution in 2020.

From the University of Plymouth, Dr. Andrew Turner explained in his BBC article that this part of the cargo could be a long-term problem: “The sinking material is not visible, meaning it is harder to recover.” “Most of this material, which will likely last for hundreds or thousands of years, will be part of the lithosphere.”

According to the IUCN, at least 14 million tonnes of plastic enters the oceans each year, accounting for 80% of all marine debris found in deep-sea sediments and drifting in surface waters.

According to the company’s analysis, Approximately 75% of LEGO’s carbon footprint This comes from the extraction and refining of plastic. Therefore, a few years ago, LEGO decided that it was time to make its products more sustainable and began producing the first parts made of plastic. organic plastic. The new plant parts are made from polyethylene, a sugarcane-based plastic that is completely non-biodegradable and has a higher recycling capacity.

Pictures | Tracey Williams/Lego

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*An earlier version of this article was published in November 2023.