Working towards sustainable LEGO® bricks and elements
We’re working hard to find solutions to make our products from more sustainable materials by 2032. In fact, some of the LEGO® bricks and elements you know and love are already made with recycled and renewable materials! Whether it’s using sugarcane, recycled kitchen worktops or experimenting with fishing nets, we’re leaving no brick unturned in our mission to make our products more sustainable.
Our unique challenge
All LEGO bricks – from yesterday, today and tomorrow – fit together without losing their ability to stack together, something we call ‘clutch power’. The high performance we expect from our bricks means any material used to make them must always meet our rigorous safety, quality and durability standards, so that they can continue inspiring generations of builders.
rSEBS
We’ve started using old fishing nets and recycled engine oil to help make some of our tires. Containing at least 33% recycled content, our rSEBS tire range will feature in over 100 iconic sets once fully rolled out, and we’re working hard to expand recycled content to future tire models. Watch this space!
bio-PE
Since 2018, we’ve been making flexible parts like LEGO flowers, botanical elements and minifigure accessories, out of bio-polyethylene (bio-PE) which is made from sugarcane. We source this from Brazil using guidance from our partner WWF, and make sure that the sugarcane we buy grows at the same rate as we use it, and doesn’t compromise food security. We make more than 200 different elements from bio-PE and around half of our LEGO sets contain at least one of these elements. Sweet!
arMABS
Since 2024, our transparent elements, like Lightsabers, windscreens and windows, now contain 20% of recycled materials from artificial marble kitchen worktops. We have over 900 different arMABS elements, which will feature in over 85% of LEGO sets once fully transitioned. Clearly genius!
ePOM
We’re designing our robust, rigid LEGO elements – such as our axles – to be made with a plastic called ePOM. The process of making this material uses cutting-edge technology to mix renewable energy and CO2 from bio-waste to create e-methanol. We hope to start using this new material in 2025.
Recycled prototype brick
In 2021, we had an exciting breakthrough and created a prototype brick made from PET plastic bottles. However, after two years of continuous development, it did not deliver the overall carbon reduction required to realize our ambitions.
We’re proud of our achievements with the prototype and will apply the learnings as we continue to develop new materials and explore other ways to make our bricks more sustainable.
Our mass balance approach
Mass balance is a way to increase the amount of renewable input in the materials we buy. Our suppliers mix virgin fossil sources with certified renewable sources (like used cooking oil or plant oil) to produce the material for LEGO products.
This approach helps us to start the transition to using more and more renewable raw materials, but it’s not the end goal. Our ambition is that by 2032, our products will be made from more materials that are renewable or recycled. But right now, there aren’t enough quality recycled and renewable raw materials available. So, until then, we will continue to join forces with industry to develop solutions and do our part to drive demand for high-quality, certified and traceable raw materials.
And that’s not all!
Behind the scenes, our committed colleagues have been testing over 600 materials in our mission to make our products more sustainable. Some materials will work, others won’t – that’s the nature of innovation. But any material we use must always meet our rigorous safety, quality and durability standards.
