On August 28, Denmark's LEGO, the world's most profitable toy company, announced its first-half 2024 financial results, with plans to have half of the plastic in its building block products by 2026 made from renewable or recycled materials. By 2032, LEGO aims to shift completely to renewable and recycled plastics for all its products.
1. Abandonment of bio-based raw materials and PET recycled materials
Currently, more than three-quarters of LEGO's colored blocks are ABS, a new plastic based on fossilized raw materials. The company is really looking for alternatives and has tested more than 600 materials in the process.
For example, there are plans to produce blocks from bio-based raw materials, and these results are not as strong as they need to be. LEGO also attempted to produce blocks entirely from recycled PET bottles. These attempts were abandoned due to cost and production issues.
2. Lego is willing to pay an extra 70% premium
In its report, the company said that in the first half of 2024, 30% of all resins purchased by LEGO were certified as quality-balanced. That means an estimated average of 22% of materials come from renewable and recycled sources, which is a significant increase from 18% in 2023. This will cost LEGO a significant amount of money. LEGO is prepared to pay 70% more for certified renewable resins to make blocks to encourage manufacturers to increase production.
3. Consumers will not pay additional fees
Lego's CEO Christiansen had this to say, it doesn't mean that Lego toys will become more expensive, the cost won't be passed on to the consumer, and Lego is taking on additional production costs so as not to scare consumers away.
