Toy giant Lego has announced that it has abandoned its plans to produce bricks from recycled plastic bottles, dealing a blow to its efforts to reduce carbon emissions. The company had previously stated its aim to create bricks that did not contain crude oil within two years. However, in a statement on Monday, Lego admitted that using the new material did not actually reduce carbon emissions.
Lego remains firm in its commitment to producing bricks from sustainable materials and is currently exploring alternatives to the use of plastic. At present, many of Lego’s bricks are made from acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), a virgin plastic derived from crude oil.
The decision to scrap the use of recycled plastic bottles will undoubtedly be seen as a setback for Lego, which has been actively working to improve its environmental credibility. Like many other companies, Lego has recognized the growing importance of sustainability to its customer base and has been searching for alternative materials that are both durable and environmentally friendly.
In 2021, Lego announced that it had successfully developed prototype bricks using polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, with the addition of some other chemicals. This innovative approach was seen as a potential alternative to traditional oil-based bricks. However, Lego has now confirmed that after more than two years of testing, the use of recycled PET did not actually reduce carbon emissions. This was primarily due to additional energy requirements in the production process.
As a result of this finding, Lego has decided not to continue with the production of bricks using recycled PET. The company is currently focused on testing and developing bricks made from a range of other sustainable materials. Niels Christiansen, the CEO of Lego, stated that there is no “magic material” that can address all of the company’s sustainability challenges. “We tested hundreds and hundreds of materials. It’s just not been possible to find a material like that,” he said.
Lego has emphasized that it remains fully committed to its goal of producing bricks from sustainable materials by 2032. The company has pledged to invest over $1.2 billion in sustainability initiatives between now and 2025, as part of its wider efforts to transition to more sustainable materials and reduce its carbon emissions by 37% by 2032.