LEGO® bricks are designed to be reused and handed down through generations, but LEGO boxes and other packaging are often disposed of quickly. Some of our packaging contains single-use disposable plastic, which today, isn’t sustainable or in some cases able to be recycled. That’s why we’re taking urgent action to make all our packaging sustainable by 2025.
Lego been playing with paper packaging
LEGO will begin to test paper bags in our boxes which means goodbye single use plastic and hello recycling bin! First, LEGO will trial recyclable paper bags that are made from Forest Stewardship Council certified paper. They will be designed to help children understand the importance of recycling and ensure they have the best possible play experience. Our new bags will be phased in over a four-year period from 2021.
Today, approximately 75% of cardboard used to make LEGO boxes comes from recycled material. In addition, all the paper and cardboard used in our products and product packaging is recyclable, sustainably sourced and certified by the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®C117818).
At the end of 2019, we announced that LEGO will phase out plastic retail bags in our 500 LEGO® Stores globally in 2020. The plastic retail bags will be replaced with paper bags made from 100% certified Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC® C117818) material.
In 2019, LEGO boxes in the US and Canada featured the How2Recycle® label. This promotes packaging recycling and provides US and Canadian consumers with clear guidance to responsibly recycle or dispose of their LEGO packaging. We are continuing to work on a global approach to reach all LEGO consumers.
In 2018, LEGO began using recycled plastic in packaging ‘blisters’ – the transparent plastic windows which allow you to have a sneak peek into the boxes – although this was a temporary measure as we will eventually phase out blisters.
In 2017, we started using recyclable paper-pulp trays in advent calendars, saving up to 1 million plastic trays from going to landfill.
