2023-09-25 15:36:15
The toy manufacturer has abandoned this new prototype and will continue to use plastic derived from petroleum. The group assures that this would have led to an increase in its carbon footprint.
An unexpected turnaround. Lego has declared that it is abandoning one of its flagship projects in an attempt to reduce its impact on the environment: the marketing of bricks made from recycled plastic bottles. Presented with great fanfare two years ago, this new prototype was to replace those produced from petroleum-derived plastic, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS).
The Danish group justified its decision by explaining to the Financial Times that “the use of polyethylene terephthalate [PET] recycled would have resulted in higher carbon emissions over the life of the product”. “To increase production [de plastique recyclé, ndlr], the level of disruption to the manufacturing environment was such that we had to change everything in our factories. After all that, the carbon footprint would have been higher,” assured Tim Brooks, head of sustainable development at Lego.
Emissions reduction of 37%
The Danish manufacturer initially set itself the goal of eliminating all petroleum-derived plastics by 2030. Unable to do without it, Lego now wants to improve the carbon footprint of ABS by gradually incorporating more materials of biological origin and recycled materials. Present in 80% of the billions of bricks from the world leader in toys, ABS requires around 2 kilos of oil to make 1 kilo of plastic.
As a show of good faith, the Danish giant took the opportunity to announce the tripling of its spending on sustainable development. And this, in order to reduce its emissions by 37% in 2032 compared to 2019. Furthermore, Lego continues to make progress in collecting and sorting bricks. The Replay program, which involves donating bricks to be sent to charitable organizations, was launched in the United States and Canada. This should be extended to Europe next year.
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