Toymaker Lego has announced plans to make half the plastic in its toy building bricks from renewable materials by 2026, The Guardian reported.
Last year, the Danish company halted plans to make bricks entirely from recycled bottles due to cost and production issues, the 28 August report said.
The company has been testing more than 600 alternative materials as part of its long-term plan to switch entirely to renewable and recycled plastic by 2032, according to the report.
As part of that aim, the company planned to gradually reduce the amount of fossil oil-based plastic it used by paying up to 70% more for certified renewable resin, the raw plastic used to make the bricks, in a bid to encourage manufacturers to increase production, the report said.
Lego’s plastic producers are replacing virgin fossil fuels with alternatives such as cooking oil or food industry waste fat as well as recycled materials but costs can be two or three times higher as the market is still developing, according to the report.
Niels Christiansen, the chief executive of Lego, was quoted as saying the shift towards more sustainable materials would lead to a significant increase in the cost of producing its bricks.
Last year, the group committed to triple spending on sustainability to 3bn Danish kroner (US$444M) /year by 2025, without passing on higher costs to consumers.
“So far, we have decided that we will bear the burden of it, and [the extra cost] comes out of our bottom line,” Christiansen told The Guardian.
Lego was making the investment to “try to push the industry to develop” and “shift the supply chain” by increasing demand, he added.
Christiansen said it was hoped this would lead to the development of new or cheaper materials which would help Lego meet its 2032 target.
