This includes finding and testing other materials that could take the company where they want to go in their future towards a cleaner, greener and sustainable future. Also announced today is a new position, Chief Sustainability Officer, which has been given to Annette Stube.

Full statements for both can be found below. 

Official statement:

The LEGO Group remains committed to make LEGO® bricks from sustainable materials

BILLUND, September 27, 2023: We wanted to share the facts about our sustainability ambitions and progress.

• We are more committed than ever to making our products and business more sustainable.
• We will triple spending on sustainability initiatives to $1.4 billion in the four years to 2025.
• We are working to make our products from more sustainable and circular materials by 2032.
• We have set ourselves a target to reduce carbon emissions by 37% by 2032 and longer-term, pledged to be net zero by 2050.
• We are also committed to investing in sustainable materials.

So far, we’ve tested more than 300 different materials. Some have been successful, such as bio-PE which we use to make botanical elements and accessories. Other have shown potential, but haven’t met our strict quality, safety and durability requirements or helped reduce our carbon footprint.

One of those materials is rPET. When we announced a prototype, we were optimistic about its potential, but after two years of testing, decided not to progress as ultimately it wouldn’t have helped us reduce carbon emissions. We also believe there are potentially better alternatives that will help us meet our sustainability ambitions.

This is the nature of innovation – especially when it comes to something as complex and ambitious as our sustainable materials programme. Some things will work, others won’t.

We have learned a lot and will apply those learnings as we continue to develop new materials and explore other ways to make our bricks more sustainable.

We believe it’s important we’re transparent about our sustainability efforts.

It’s a challenge we all share, and it’s something we know kids care about. We receive hundreds of letters from children each year with ideas of how we can be more sustainable. We want them to know we’re listening and trying hard.

We look forward to continuing to share our progress. LEGO.com/Sustainability

The LEGO Group appoints Chief Sustainability Officer

Annette Stube to join January 1, 2024

BILLUND, September 27, 2023: The LEGO Group today announced it has appointed Annette Stube as its Chief Sustainability Officer. Annette, who is currently Executive Vice President and Head of Sustainability at Stora Enso will join the company on January 1, 2024.

The role will report to Chief Executive Officer, Niels B Christiansen and be responsible for leading the company’s environmental sustainability vision and strategy and working with operations, product development and marketing teams to deliver company-wide plans and targets. Annette will also support the LEGO Group’s external environmental communications and engagement activity.

Niels B Christiansen said: “We are excited to have Annette join us to further advance our sustainability ambitions. Delivering on our Planet Promise is one of our most urgent and important challenges. While we have made significant progress over the past few years to reduce the impact our business has on the planet, we have much more to do. We have set ambitious targets to reduce carbon emissions, make our products and packaging more sustainable and circular, and run zero impact operations. Annette has a strong track record in helping companies and governments drive systemic change which delivers lasting environmental impact.”

Annette Stube said: “I am excited to join the LEGO Group and be part of the team helping to create a better environment for the benefit of future generations. There are very few companies who have children as their primary customers, which reminds us that the need for change is very real and urgent. It is encouraging to see the LEGO Group prioritise investments and resources against accelerating its sustainability ambitions and I am looking forward to playing my part to deliver those.”

Annette brings to the LEGO Group more than 25 years’ experience working in sustainability. Prior to her role at Swedish-Finnish renewable materials company, Stora Enso, she worked at Maersk as head of sustainability for more than ten years. Before that she held senior sustainability roles at Novo Nordisk. She is currently a member of the Presidency for WWF, Denmark, and has acted as an advisor to the Danish Government on a range of sustainability topics. Annette co-authored Squaring the Sustainability Circle and has been an Adjunct Professor at Copenhagen Business School for the past 10 years.

A couple of Years ago LEGO started to produce Plant based bricks, which feature heavily in two sets,
Plants from Plants (40320) and the LEGO Ideas Treehouse.

LEGO’s next step in sustainability comes from recycling plastic bottles, with just a 1L bottle creating approximately ten 2×4 bricks!

However we won’t be seeing these take over sets anytime soon, but they’re definitely a step in the right direction.

Read the full official statement below:

Drum roll please … we’re now using plastic bottles to make prototype LEGO bricks! This is a big step towards our commitment to make all our products from sustainable sources by 2030. https://t.co/LO01pUdRGF#Sustainability #RebuildTheWorld #LEGO pic.twitter.com/rXwiBU3LU1

— LEGO (@LEGO_Group) June 23, 2021

BOTTLES KV A4 RGB

The LEGO Group reveals first prototype – LEGO® brick made from recycled plastic
The LEGO Group today unveiled a prototype LEGO® brick made from recycled plastic, the latest step in its journey to make LEGO products from sustainable materials.

The new prototype, which uses PET plastic from discarded bottles, is the first brick made from a recycled material to meet the company’s strict quality and safety requirements.

A team of more than 150 people are working to find sustainable solutions for LEGO products. Over the past three years, materials scientists and engineers tested over 250 variations of PET materials and hundreds of other plastic formulations. The result is a prototype that meets several of their quality, safety and play requirements – including clutch power.

Vice President of Environmental Responsibility at the LEGO Group, Tim Brooks said: “We are super excited about this breakthrough. The biggest challenge on our sustainability journey is rethinking and innovating new materials that are as durable, strong and high quality as our existing bricks – and fit with LEGO elements made over the past 60 years. With this prototype we’re able to showcase the progress we’re making.”

Uncompromised quality and safety

It will be some time before bricks made from a recycled material appear in LEGO product boxes. The team will continue testing and developing the PET formulation and then assess whether to move to the pilot production phase. This next phase of testing is expected to take at least a year.

Brooks said: “We know kids care about the environment and want us to make our products more sustainable. Even though it will be a while before they will be able to play with bricks made from recycled plastic, we want to let kids know we’re working on it and bring them along on the journey with us. Experimentation and failing is an important part of learning and innovation. Just as kids build, unbuild and rebuild with LEGO bricks at home, we’re doing the same in our lab.”

The prototype is made from recycled PET sourced from suppliers in the United States that use US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) approved processes to ensure quality. On average, a one-litre plastic PET bottle provides enough raw material for ten 2 x 4 LEGO bricks.

Journey towards more sustainable products

The patent-pending material formulation increases the durability of PET to make it strong enough for LEGO bricks. The innovative process uses a bespoke compounding technology to combine the recycled PET with strengthening additives.

The recycled prototype brick is the latest development in making the LEGO Group’s products more sustainable. In 2020, the company announced it will begin removing single-use plastic from its boxes. In 2018, it began producing elements from bio-polyethylene (bio-PE), made from sustainably sourced sugarcane. Many LEGO sets contain elements made from bio-PE which is perfect for making smaller, softer pieces such as trees, branches, leaves and accessories for minifigures. Bio-PE is not currently suitable for making harder, stronger elements such as the iconic LEGO bricks.

Brooks said: “We’re committed to playing our part in building a sustainable future for generations of children. We want our products to have a positive impact on the planet, not just with the play they inspire, but also with the materials we use. We still have a long way to go on our journey but are pleased with the progress we’re making.”

The LEGO Group’s focus on sustainable material innovation is just one of several different initiatives the company has in place to make a positive impact. The LEGO Group will invest up to US $400 million over three years to 2022 to accelerate its sustainability ambitions. For more information on how the LEGO Group wants to rebuild the world for the better, visit: LEGO.com/Sustainability