The LEGO Group has launched a brand new, extra sustainable materials for chosen LEGO tires, made out of recycled fishing nets, ropes, and engine oil.
The fabric is created by repurposing discarded ropes and nets from ocean vessels which is then mixed with recycled engine oil to scale back reliance of virgin fossil fuel-based substances.
It can initially be utilized in seven LEGO tire items, every containing a minimum of 30% recycled content material. The brand new tires have already began showing in LEGO units— indistinguishable from current tires followers know and love. The corporate expects these new tires for use in roughly 120 totally different units by the tip of 2025 and plans to discover methods to increase recycled content material throughout extra tire kinds within the close to future.
Chief Sustainability Officer Annette Stube stated: “That is an thrilling step in our ambition to make LEGO merchandise extra sustainable and scale back our dependence on virgin fossil fuels. Over the previous 5 years, we’ve got invested vital time in growing and testing this new recycled materials to make sure it meets our excessive requirements for high quality, security, and sturdiness. The tires are simply one among many choices we’re engaged on to make our merchandise extra sustainable and it’s encouraging to see one thing this revolutionary making it into our units.”
LEGO stated the introduction of this materials, often known as rSEBS, is a part of the corporate’s broader efforts to make LEGO Group bricks and packaging from extra sustainable supplies. LEGO SEBS supplies are blends of SEBS (which is an abbreviation for styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene) and different parts. The lowercase r signifies a few of the parts are of mechanically recycled origin.
The group stated t right here is not any single resolution to the challenges of sustainability, which is why the corporate is exploring a spread of options to scale back its environmental footprint and make its merchandise from extra renewable and recycled supplies. Up to now, the LEGO Group has examined over 600 totally different supplies for its bricks and components.
Key initiatives embrace:
- Bio-polyethylene (bio-PE) – Since 2018, the corporate has used bio-PE, a delicate, sturdy, and versatile plastic made utilizing Brazilian sugarcane, for sure LEGO components akin to minifigure equipment and botanical items. Right this moment, greater than 200 components are made out of bio-PE, with over half of LEGO units containing a minimum of one among these sustainable parts.
- Recycled synthetic marble (arMABS) – As of 2024, clear LEGO components—together with lightsabres, windscreens, and home windows—comprise 20% recycled materials derived from synthetic marble, generally utilized in kitchen worktops. The LEGO Group produces over 900 totally different arMABS components, which, as soon as totally transitioned, will function in additional than 85% of LEGO units.
- e-Methanol and ePOM – The LEGO Group is collaborating with trade companions to buy e-methanol, a fabric produced by mixing renewable vitality with CO2 from bio-waste. This revolutionary materials might be used to provide ePOM, which is anticipated to debut in choose LEGO components, together with wheel axles, within the close to future.
The group stated it’s “dedicated to remodeling the uncooked supplies utilized in its bricks”.
“By the second half of 2024, 30% of all resin bought by the corporate was licensed based on mass steadiness ideas, representing an estimated common of twenty-two% renewable sources.”
On 11 March, the corporate plans to share its 2024 sustainability assertion, together with full yr mass steadiness information.