Danish toy company Lego System is planning to invest as much as $400 million over the next three years to accelerate its green initiatives. The company announced that the funds will be used for its various sustainability and social responsibility efforts, which will include research and development into new types of "bio-bricks."
Lego mentioned in a statement on Tuesday that the initiative will cover a large number of areas throughout its operations. One of its first steps will be to fully phase out the use of single-use plastic bags in its packaging. The company stated that by 2025, all of its packagings should transition to non-plastic alternatives. Lego added that it will be testing out new recyclable paper bags for its products by next year.
Apart from the packaging, Lego is also planning to do extensive research and development into the production of more sustainable bricks. This will include the creation of so-called "bio-bricks," which will utilize material from sugar cane.
As for its manufacturing operations, Lego claimed that its goal will be to become fully carbon neutral by 2022. To achieve this goal, Lego is looking into installing solar panels and other renewable energy structures at all of its factories. Attempts to cut water usage will also be made, with the goal of reducing it by at least 10 percent by 2022.
In 2018, the company's greenhouse emissions from its operations and supply chain were estimated to have reached 1.1 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalents. Lego claims that it has managed to partially reduce that number over the past months through better carbon efficiency measures.
The company's continued use of plastic, which is the main component for almost all of its products, has become the talking point of global environmental groups. Lego recognizes this issue, which is why it is making a huge commitment to finding alternative materials for its products.
Lego is also planning to launch several programs and campaigns that will see the extended use of its already sold bricks. One of the campaigns will encourage people to donate their used bricks so that they can be used by "children in need of play." Under the program, called Lego Replay, the company aims to provide bricks to children's foundations such as Teach for American and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston.
