sustainability

We Stress Test the New ‘In Box’ Paper Bags

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At the recent Recognised LEGO® Fan Media Days, we were treated to a presentation by the sustainability team with regard to progress being made on their various programs. The first part if the presentation was from Therese Noorlander, Senior Director of Sustainability Engagement. She spoke about some of the history of sustainability withing the LEGO Group – taking it back to the the Great Yo-Yo Craze of the 1930s: when the craze ended, leaving the company with boxes of unsold yo-yos, they were cut in half and used as wheels for toy wooden trucks, through to the ongoing research with regard to finding a sustainable material to use for plastic bricks. Most of this information has been published previously, and can be found on the LEGO Group’s sustainability website.
However, some of the most exciting news, not previously covered elsewhere, came from Anne Boye Møller, who for the past four years has been the Project Lead for the sustainable prepack. She works with a team based in Denmark and the Czech Republic and was proud to announce that the first generation packing lines are ready to go, and some of the first SKUs(sets) have been packed using these paper bags.

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Counting Down to 90 Years of Play, Part 9 2012-2021

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We have been counting down to the 90th anniversary of the LEGO Group, which is now ( at the time of writing) only one more sleep away! We have travelled from the time that the company made wooden yo-yos and pull-along animals, and seen it pivot towards plastics and develop the brick. We have seen the Minifigure arrive and storytelling enter the fore. We have seen the company come back from the brink of financial collapse, to stabilise and start to grow.

As we travel through the 2010s, we get some new friends; storytelling becomes more animated, sustainability enters the agenda; and adult fans are asked for their ideas and become part of the acknowledged target demographic.

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The New Building Instruction Design: Official Statement and Editorial Rant

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I’m a bit cross. While I am a bit disappointed with the new LEGO instruction manuals, rolling out this next half year, I am quite unhappy with the final reason given for it

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Fan Day in LEGO® House With New Fan Exhibition and Live Presentation

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After the pandemic put a hole in everyone’s plans last year, the Skaerbaek Fan Weekend is back in 2021. The Thursday before the weekend has, for 3 of the last 4 years anyway, been associated with a trip to the LEGO House for an AFOL Day. Last year, in the absence of the true physical event, an online event took place.

This weekend, LEGO Fans from around the world – well, the parts that can travel to Denmark, anyway, are heading back to Skaerbaek. And once again, there will be an AFOL Day at the LEGO House. As well as unveilling new exhibits in the Masterpiece gallery, there will also be a number of presentations from Vice President for Design, Matthew Ashton, the Ninjago Team, as well as an update on the LEGO Groups Sustainability developments. Perhaps this is more like what AFOLs were expecting from LEGO Con, held earlier this year.

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Prototype LEGO® Bricks Made of Recycled PET Revealed

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Each year, we hear more and more about the steps that the LEGO Group are taking towards developing a more sustainable brick: elements from Bioplastic; Eliminating single use plastics, use of renewable energy and more. Today the LEGO Group have announced progress in the development of a brick made of recycled PET – the plastic commonly used in plastic bottles.

While the prototype bricks are still undergoing testing for suitability as a substitute for the current ABS bricks, there are still a few questions to be answered, including durability, strength and indeed the ability to ensure that they can be consistently coloured.

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Sustainability Roundtable: Paper Bags and More

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Recently, The LEGO Group announced that they were accelerating their timetable for eliminating single use plastics from their packaging. I had the opportunity to attend a roundtable meeting discussing the LEGO Group’s Sustainability Ambitions. Along with with ambassadors fro several Recognised LEGO® Fan Media and recognised LEGO® User Groups, this online meeting was with Tim Brooks, Vice President for Environnmental Responsibility, as well as Sustainable Materials Directors, Anne Boye Møller and Steen Kjeld Bach Pedersen.

The prime focus was on the recent announcement of the forthcoming trials of paper bags to replace the plastic bags used in LEGO® sets. However, there was a general discussion about the sustainability agenda at the LEGO group, the elimination of single use plastics, the LEGO Replay program, and the importance of children in establishing this agenda.

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Lego Sets Out To Remove Single Used Plastics By 2025

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LEGO Group to invest up to US$400 million over three years 
to accelerate sustainability efforts

http://www.billedwerk.dk

Over the last few years, we have heard about several sustainable initiatives that the LEGO Group has launched: Plant elements from Plants; Searches for non petrochemical based plastics for LEGO elements; improving the carbon offset through the development of offshore wind farms in Scandavavia, as well as roof top solar panels in China. Today, we are excited to hear about the LEGO Group’s Endeavour to eliminate single use plastics. Now, LEGO bricks are predominantly multiple use plastic.

But there remain the single use plastic bags in packaging: inside every box, helping to keep the elements wrangled while they wait to be build into something marvelous. Hiding, waiting until we have need of them. Often concealing themselves in the furthest corners of these bags.

And to that end, the Group have been looking at paper alternatives to these single use plastic bags, in the next few years, as well as making the product more sustainable through reducing waste, keeping LEGO Bricks in action for longer through the Replay program and and inpsiring kids to learn about sustainability through play.

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Creator Expert Vestas Wind Turbine Re-released and Sustainability Update [Announcement/Preview]

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10268_CreatorExpert_2HY18_Outdoor2_IT

In which we get a glimpse of another set re-released after 10 years and have a quick review of some of the recent steps the LEGO Group are taking towards a sustainable future.4999-1

Ten years ago, LEGO® set 4999 was released. A limited release set produced for Vestas®, a company which produces a significant number of wind turbines around the world,  this set was never made available to the general public.  Measuring over two feet high, it does have significant gravitas as a display piece.

Today, at the New York Climate Week,  the LEGO Group has announced the re-release of this set, as 10268 Vestas Wind Turbine. This time, the set will be available to the general public, from Black Friday (November 23). With 826 elements, the count is a little higher than the 803 listed for the older set in the database maintained by Brickset. In Australia, it will cost $AUD329. A full international price list is listed at the bottom of this post.

The Vestas Wind Turbine also includes a Power Functions Battery box, M motor, with a long extension cable, to get the turbine spinning, as well as lights.

Consisting of the wind turbine sitting on a small hill, with a house, service van and three minifigures, this set maintains many of the characteristics of the original.  Most of the elements in that set were readily available, except for one.  A green ‘Large ugly rock piece.’ While these could easily be substituted for one in grey, the green one has gone back into production for this set. The trees in this set are some of the first ‘Plants from Plants’ available for purchase in LEGO sets.  Earlier in the year, a promotional set was available, as a gift with purchase, in some markets.

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