Contrary to its high-profile efforts to bring carbon emissions to a new low, Lego found switching to recycled polyethylene terephthalate (RPET) plastics did the opposite for its CO2 quotas. .The toy company made efforts beginning in 2021 to reduce its carbon footprint by altering the makeup of Lego’s classic, oil-based plastic blocks to blocks made from recycled bottles..Lego has now abandoned recycled blocks after discovering they don’t reduce emissions. . LegoLego .“We have decided not to progress making bricks from recycled PET after more than two years of testing as we found the material didn’t reduce carbon emissions,” a Lego spokesperson told The New York Post. .Lego tested RPET prototypes for two years as a replacement to the Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) plastic, however its CEO, Niels Christiansen, said the RPET left a heavier carbon footprint over time than its classic oil-based counterpart, though ABS plastic takes about twice its weight in petroleum to produce. .“In the early days, the belief was that it was easier to find this magic material or this new material (that would solve the sustainability issue),” Christiansen said, adding “(but) that doesn’t seem to be there.”.“We tested hundreds and hundreds of materials. It’s just not been possible to find a material like that,” he continued. .Lego originally had a goal of eliminating all oil-based plastics and related materials by 2030, echoing the agenda laid out by the World Economic Forum. .The Financial Times described Lego's dilemma as “a sign of the complex trade-offs companies face in their search for sustainability.".“Lego’s change of tactics highlights the difficult decisions facing companies on sustainability where different targets such as eliminating the use of fossil fuels and reducing carbon emissions can come into conflict," The Financial Times said. .The Danish toy company had some success in 2018 when it attempted to replace polyethylene, an oil-based chemical, for a plant-based replica, which was possible for making, fittingly enough, trees and bushes. .Lego has also made strides to improve its packaging by replacing its single-use plastic containers with paper boxes. . Lego 4Lego 4 .Tim Brooks, head of Lego’s sustainability department, said ABS is the material that gives Lego its “clutch power” because it makes the pieces durable and easy to stack and pull apart — and the recycled plastic needed extra ingredients added and large amounts of energy to produce the same likeness and function. .“It’s like trying to make a bike out of wood rather than steel,” Brooks said. “In order to scale production (of RPET), the level of disruption to the manufacturing environment was such that we needed to change everything in our factories. After all that, the carbon footprint would have been higher. It was disappointing.”.“RPET is a great example of why we’re not trying to be so dogmatic,” he added..One method Lego plans to use to offset emissions is to encourage customers to donate Lego sets they don’t use anymore. .“It’s better to reuse than recycle,” Brooks said. “So we’re looking at a circular business model — how do we earn revenue from recircling bricks. It’s quite a shift in thinking and ideas.”.Meanwhile, Christiansen explained, “It’s not going from being zero to 100% sustainable from one day to the next, but you start with elements of it being based on either bio materials or recycled materials. Maybe it’s 50%, or 30%, or 70% based on that.”. Lego 3Lego 3 .While admitting it would be difficult to communicate to consumers just how much they were reducing emissions, he said Lego still strives to deliver on lowering its emissions targets, at a 37% reduction compared to 2019, by 2032. .The toy company has a goal to triple its sustainability spending to $430 million each year by 2025, which Christiansen acknowledged would impact Lego’s profit margins.
