In 2015 the LEGO Group announced its ambition to use 100-per-cent sustainable materials in both its bricks and packaging by 2030. Today, the LEGO Group announced its target for achieving 100-per-cent sustainable packaging by 2025.

 

“To support our company mission, we have a Planet Promise and we have pledged to play our part in protecting the planet for future generations. Using sustainable packaging is an important part of fulfilling that promise,” announced Tim Brooks, Vice President of Environmental Responsibility at LEGO Group. “By bringing forward our ambition for sustainable packaging, we are also acknowledging the need to find better packaging solutions sooner. We’ve made good progress in the past three years, and there is still work to do.” 

  

According to the firm, LEGO bricks are designed to be reused and handed down through generations – but not everyone keeps their LEGO boxes and other packaging. As some of the LEGO packaging contains single-use disposable plastics, which are not currently sustainable, and in some cases cannot be recycled by consumers, LEGO Group is actively taking measures to improve its packaging sustainability.   

“By 2025, our aim is that no LEGO packaging parts have to end up in a landfill,” added Mr Brooks. “Packaging will be made from renewable or recycled materials and will be easy for consumers to recycle.”

 

Progressive packaging

 

The LEGO Group has taken several steps to improve the sustainability of its packaging. For example, this year the company began using recycled plastic in packaging ‘blisters’ - the transparent plastic windows that allow consumers to have a sneak peek into some LEGO boxes.

 

2018 also marked the year when LEGO boxes in the US and Canada started to feature the How2Recycle® label promoting packaging recycling and providing US and Canadian consumers with clear guidance to responsibly recycle their LEGO packaging.

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In 2017, the plastic trays previously used in LEGO’s advent calendars were replaced with recyclable paper-pulp trays, saving up to one million plastic trays from going to the landfill. 

 

Other progressive sustainability moves to date include that approximately 75 per cent of cardboard used to make LEGO boxes comes from recycled material. Meanwhile, the average size of a LEGO box has been reduced by 14 per cent over the past four years – improving transport efficiency, saving on average every year over 3,000 truckloads and 7,000 tonnes of cardboard. Beyond that, all paper and cardboard used in LEGO products and product packaging is today recyclable, sustainably sourced and certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. 

 

The building blocks to a more sustainable model

 

LEGO Group’s sustainable packaging ambition focuses on finding sustainable packaging alternatives that are ‘renewable, efficient and recyclable’, the firm says. 

 

“The LEGO Group believes a new sustainable material must have an ever-lighter footprint than the material it replaces across key environmental and social impact areas such as fossil resource use, human rights and climate change,” the Group noted in a statement. 

 

Beyond packaging, LEGO Group partners with the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF), as part of efforts to reduce CO2 emissions in manufacturing and supply chain operations, and to promote global action on climate change. 

 

Through investments in wind power, the energy used to make LEGO bricks is balanced by the production of renewable energy.