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Lego has found a way to go green.

The Danish toymaker says some of its iconic bricks will soon be made from recycled plastic.

And that's no small feat.

The firm currently uses about 100,000 tonnes of oil-based plastics each year.

Tim Brooks is Lego's vice president of environmental responsibility.

He says the company felt pressure from consumers:

"We want to be a responsible user of plastic. We understand the concern that both children and adults have of plastic out there in the world and certainly plastic in landfill or in the environment and we believe that recycled material is one of the best ways to address that."

The green bricks will be made from recycled drink bottles.

A standard one-litre bottle will yield about ten regular bricks.

Getting the technology right has proved challenging, and expensive.

Lego said last year it would spend $400 million stepping up efforts to use sustainable materials.

There are still two challenges to overcome with the new bricks:

"What we're still working on is the fact that we want to be able of course to colour it into this bright green colour from this grey."

Lego expects the first bricks made from recycled plastic to hit the market in 18 to 24 months.

Rival Mattel, best known as the maker of Barbie dolls, says it will make its toys from sustainable materials from 2030.