LEGO Replaces Plastic Bags After Getting Letters From Kids Asking For Redesign
Image via LEGO
LEGO has called it for years: encouraging kids to play will help build the future. Certainly, this generation has already impressed, even convincing the toy giant to overhaul its packaging and production techniques.
On Wednesday, the LEGO Group revealed that—after many children had written in to request for a change in packaging—it will phase out the plastic bags used to carry loose bricks to make way for new eco-friendly paper pouches.
Niels B. Christiansen, CEO of the LEGO Group, shared in a press release, “We have received many letters from children about the environment asking us to remove single-use plastic packaging. We have been exploring alternatives for some time and the passion and ideas from children inspired us to begin to make the change.”
Image via LEGO
The new and improved version, part of LEGO’s US$400 million vision to “accelerate sustainability and social responsibility initiatives,” is constructed out of sustainably-sourced, FSC-certified paper.
LEGO hopes to make all of its packaging sustainable by 2025. The company, however, acknowledges that the journey to doing so won’t be easy. “[It] will take time as new material must be durable, lightweight and enhance the building experience,” the toymaker noted.
Image via LEGO
It revealed that “hundreds of parents and children” have already tested 15 prototypes that the company had created from different sustainable materials. Kids favored these new paper bags, since they are “environmentally-friendly and easy to open.”
Notably, LEGO is also exploring alternative materials for its bricks, though as The Dieline reports, the pieces are, in a way, traditionally designed for sustainability as they have been built to be handed down generations.
At present, only two percent of LEGO’s materials portfolio are made up of non-petroleum substitutes, such as sugarcane-based bioplastics used to manufacture bio-bricks. Nevertheless, the company has set its sights on going all sustainable for its materials.
This is a truly admirable decision, as LEGO produces a reported 19 billion bricks per year as of 2018.
It also ranks among the world’s most valuable companies and, quite unexpectedly, stands as the “most popular” brand on YouTube.
[via The Dieline, images via LEGO]
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