More than 60 billion LEGO while were grow in 2014 . That ’s a lot of piffling plastic mental block getting turn a loss between couch cushion , roam under the front seats of miniskirt - vans , and being chewed on by untried children . More significantly , to produce this many bricks , it take more than6000 tons of plastic each year , which , when combined with the packaging cloth , result in a tidy carbon footmark .
But that may all change by 2030 . The LEGO Group recentlyannounced their planto become more environmentally conscious by investing 1 billion Danish Krone — almost $ 150 million dollars — to construct the LEGO Sustainable Materials Centre , and recruit more than 100 LEGO employees to focus specifically on the undertaking at the troupe ’s central office in Denmark . The decision to increase the company ’s cause to reach full sustainability by the 2030 bench mark was made at a General Assembly meeting in May .
The LEGO Group began their drive towards sustainability back in 2003 , and since 2006 , has put out a annual news report documenting their progress . In 2014 , the LEGO Group partner with the Forward Stewardship Council toshrink the size of it of the LEGO set boxesin order to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions and curve back on the amount of cardboard used , saving around 6000 long ton .
LEGO Group is already working with the World Wildlife Foundation ( WWF ) through the Climate Savers partnership to chance alternative , sustainable materials for both the bricks and the promotion .
One problem LEGO Group will face in creating a more sustainable model is that “ there is no mutual definition of a sustainable material , " CEO and President of LEGO Group Jørgen Vig Knudstorp say in apress press release . " Several factor influence the environmental sustainability of a textile — the paper of the material , how it is sourced , and what happens when the product reaches the oddment of its life-time . ”
powerful now , 70 percent of the plastic used to make LEGO pieces isABS , a thermoplastic resin . Although there are sustainable pliant alternatives , few would allow new LEGO small-arm toblend in with the older ones — one of the company ’s requirements when seek for a replacement .
As challenging as the modulation will be , as a drawing card in the plaything industry , LEGO ’s dramatic shift towards sustainability will hopefully lead other toy manufacturers to soon trench the plastic and opt for green textile .
[ h / tQuartz ]
