Ethan Clarke
Lego, the world's largest toy manufacturer, has built a reputation for the durability of its bricks and its substantial investment in sustainability. In 2021, Lego's Sustainable Materials team unveiled a prototype brick made from recycled PET plastic sourced from discarded bottles. However, in 2023, Lego abandoned its plans to use recycled plastic bottles, citing concerns about increased production emissions and the durability of the new material. Despite this setback, Lego remains committed to sustainability and continues to explore alternative materials, such as bio-polypropylene and e-methanol, to reduce its carbon footprint.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Use of recycled plastic | Lego initially aimed to replace traditional plastic with recycled plastic from bottles |
| However, the company found that the process would require extra materials and energy, leading to higher carbon emissions | |
| Lego has since abandoned plans to use recycled plastic bottles, but continues to seek sustainable alternatives | |
| Current plastic use | Lego currently uses acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plastic in most toys |
| Commitment to sustainability | Lego pledges to use only sustainable materials by 2032 |
| The company is actively testing alternative materials, including recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) | |
| Lego is transitioning to paper-based packaging and recyclable materials across its business | |
| Carbon emissions | From 2020 to 2021, Lego's total emissions increased by 30% |
| 98% of Lego's carbon emissions are categorized as scope 3, which includes supply chain and consumer-use emissions |
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What You'll Learn
Lego's sustainability goals
Lego has long been regarded as a leader in the toy industry when it comes to sustainability, with a reputation for producing durable bricks that can last for decades. The company has made significant investments in sustainability and has ambitious goals to create a more sustainable world for future generations. Here is an overview of Lego's sustainability goals and its journey towards achieving them.
One of Lego's key sustainability goals is to transition to more sustainable materials for its core products. The company has been working towards replacing traditional Lego plastic with recycled materials, specifically targeting the popular 2 x 4 brick, one of the most commonly used Lego pieces. In 2021, Lego's Sustainable Materials team, consisting of 150 members, successfully developed a prototype brick made from PET plastic sourced from recycled bottles. This prototype met most of Lego's stringent requirements, including the crucial "clutch power" that ensures Lego bricks stick together securely.
However, in 2023, Lego encountered a setback. After two years of testing, the company announced that its recycled plastic bricks would require additional materials and energy to meet durability standards, resulting in higher carbon emissions during production. Consequently, Lego decided to temporarily halt its pursuit of recycled plastic bricks and continue its search for more sustainable alternatives. This decision underscores Lego's commitment to thoroughly evaluating the environmental impact of its initiatives across its supply chain.
Despite this challenge, Lego remains dedicated to its sustainability goals. The company continues to explore alternative materials, such as bio-polypropylene, a sustainable and biological variant of polyethylene. Lego also plans to incorporate recycled oils and other sustainable raw materials into its production process. Additionally, Lego is committed to removing all single-use plastic from its packaging by 2025, ensuring that its packaging is environmentally friendly.
Lego's sustainability efforts extend beyond the materials they use. The company aims to reduce the carbon footprint of bringing a Lego product to market and limit its resource consumption. This includes optimizing production processes and supply chain operations to minimize environmental impact. Lego is also committed to the principles of "Quality Education" and "Responsible Consumption and Production", ensuring that its products positively impact children's learning experiences while reducing their environmental footprint.
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Recycled plastic brick challenges
Lego, the world's largest toy manufacturer, has built a reputation for the durability of its bricks and its substantial investment in sustainability. However, the company has recently decided to abandon its efforts to incorporate recycled plastic into its bricks. This decision was made after Lego discovered that producing bricks with recycled plastic would require extra materials and energy to meet the company's durability standards, resulting in higher carbon emissions than their current production methods.
While Lego's decision to discontinue the use of recycled plastic in its bricks is disappointing to some, it highlights the challenges associated with transitioning to more sustainable practices. One of the main challenges is the conversion process, which can result in increased energy consumption and carbon emissions if the recycled material is not properly optimized.
Another challenge is ensuring that the recycled plastic meets the same standards of durability and performance as the original material. Lego's bricks are designed to last for decades, and any new material must be able to withstand the test of time without compromising the quality and safety of the product.
In addition, the transition to recycled plastic can be technically challenging and may require significant investments in research and development. Companies may need to reformulate the recycled material to achieve the desired properties, which can be a complex and time-consuming process.
Despite these challenges, some companies have successfully incorporated recycled plastic into their bricks. For example, UNICEF has partnered with a Colombian social enterprise, Conceptos Plásticos, to build classrooms out of recycled plastic bricks in Côte d'Ivoire. This project not only helps the environment by reducing plastic waste but also empowers local women by providing them with income opportunities.
Furthermore, innovative startups like Gjenge Makers in Kenya are creating stronger and more durable bricks from recycled plastic waste. These bricks are not only environmentally friendly but also cost-effective, fuel-efficient, and noise-insulating, showcasing the potential for recycled plastic bricks to revolutionize the construction industry.
While challenges remain, addressing them can lead to significant environmental and economic benefits. By overcoming technical hurdles, optimizing production processes, and ensuring rigorous testing and evaluation, companies can harness the potential of recycled plastic bricks to create a more sustainable future.
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Lego's carbon emissions
From 2020 to 2021, Lego's total emissions increased by 30%, largely due to surging demand during the COVID-19 lockdowns. However, the company has actively worked to reduce its carbon footprint and minimise its environmental impact. They have set targets for their carbon footprint, energy use, water usage, and waste generation, aiming to reduce their absolute GHG emissions by 37% by 2032 compared to 2019 levels.
To achieve these targets, Lego has implemented several initiatives. They have reduced their reliance on natural gas at three factories and phased out natural gas in Billund, Denmark, connecting to a district heating network powered by renewable energy. Additionally, they introduced shadow carbon pricing, a financial tool that places a monetary value on carbon emissions to encourage investment in low-carbon projects.
Lego has also focused on reducing emissions in their supply chain by working closely with suppliers and providing sustainability expertise. They recognise that a significant portion of their carbon emissions comes from outside their operations, mainly from suppliers providing raw materials, machines, and services. By asking suppliers for emission savings targets and sharing knowledge on carbon accounting, Lego aims to reduce CO2 emissions and find more sustainable raw materials.
While Lego's efforts to create recycled plastic bricks faced challenges, they continue to explore sustainable alternatives. They plan to use bio-polypropylene, a sustainable and biological variant of polyethylene, for certain parts in their sets. Lego remains committed to minimising their environmental impact and transitioning to more sustainable practices.
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Lego packaging and recycling
Lego has built a reputation not only for the durability of its bricks, designed to last for decades, but also for its substantial investment in sustainability. The company has committed to using recyclable packaging across all areas of its business, from its core products to licensed products made by its partners. Currently, 93% of Lego's packaging by weight is made from paper, cardboard, and other paper-based materials. The company is also reducing single-use plastic and introducing paper-based bags in all its Lego sets.
Lego's packaging is designed to provide the best experience when unpacking Lego sets, such as providing information and protecting the Lego set inside so that no bricks go missing. The company aims for all its packaging to be made from responsibly sourced materials that are either renewable or made from recycled content and certified by the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC® C117818). Lego encourages recycling and provides guidance on how to do it. For example, the company's boxes feature the How2Recycle® label in the US and Canada, which provides clear guidance to consumers on how to responsibly dispose of or recycle their Lego packaging.
Lego's new paper-based bags are made with paper from Forest Stewardship Council-certified forests and FSC-controlled wood. They have been verified as technically recyclable in the European Union, the United States, and Canada. The company also uses paper-based packaging for its Lego baseplates, which were previously wrapped in single-use plastic. This packaging is made from paper with a thin plastic coating on the inside, enabling the sealing of the packaging and helping to protect the product. The baseplate packaging has been verified as recyclable in the European Union, the United States, and Canada.
Lego also has a donation program called Lego Replay, where people can donate their Lego bricks to children in need. Lego partners with donation networks and nonprofit social enterprises, such as First Book, to ensure that their much-loved Lego bricks find a new life and continue to spark creativity and learning in others.
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Lego's future sustainability plans
Lego has built a reputation not only for the durability of its bricks but also for its substantial investment in sustainability. The company has set an ambitious goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and is working towards a broad range of sustainability initiatives.
Lego's sustainability plans include transitioning to more sustainable raw materials, using more sustainable packaging, and making its business more circular. They are also investing in renewable energy production and aiming to secure renewable energy sources for their factories, offices, and stores. By 2025, Lego plans to have doubled its spending on sustainable initiatives compared to 2023.
Lego has also been working on creating bricks from recycled plastic. Their Sustainable Materials team has tested more than 250 variations of PET materials, creating a prototype brick made from recycled plastic bottles that meets most of Lego's requirements. However, the company has encountered challenges in ensuring the recycled bricks have the same "clutch power" as their standard ABS bricks, and they have found that the conversion process results in higher carbon emissions. As a result, Lego has decided to continue using fossil fuel-based materials while they search for more sustainable alternatives.
Lego is also focusing on reducing its Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions. From 2020 to 2021, the company's total emissions increased by 30%, mainly due to an increase in scope 3 emissions. To address this, Lego has set a target of reducing its absolute GHG emissions by 37% by 2032 compared to 2019 levels. The company plans to triple its investments in environmental sustainability over the next three years, spending more than $1.4 billion.
In addition to its own initiatives, Lego is also partnering with organizations such as the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi) and Climate Impact Partners to improve its sustainability credentials. The company is committed to reducing the greenhouse gas emissions from its supply chain and has invested in carbon removal projects supporting biochar, enhanced rock weathering, and reforestation.
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Frequently asked questions
No, Lego does not use recycled plastic for its bricks. The company has tried to make bricks from recycled plastic bottles but found that the process would require extra materials and energy, leading to higher carbon emissions. Lego is committed to finding sustainable alternatives and has pledged to use only sustainable materials by 2032.
Lego has switched from single-use plastic to paper-based bags and packaging for its Lego baseplates. The company is also using bio-polypropylene, a sustainable and biological variant of polyethylene, for parts in Lego sets such as leaves, trees, and other accessories.
Lego has a 150-strong Sustainable Materials team that is working to find alternatives to its current plastic. The team has tested more than 250 variations of PET materials and is committed to making Lego bricks from sustainable materials by 2032.
