Lego is considering a brick rental scheme in an attempt to cut down on plastic waste. The Danish toymaker has promised to make all its bricks from sustainable sources by 2030 and is searching significant resources into finding alternatives.
Tim Brooks, vice-president responsible for sustainability, said the company was "totally open" to the idea of a product rental scheme but acknowledged that lost pieces could be a significant problem. He said the rental scheme was "possible" but admitted there were some "technical barriers", one of which is the complexity of some Lego sets, many of which contain thousands of pieces. "What are the chances of giving them to an eight-year-old child and getting them all back again?" Mr. Brooks added.
Lego has come under increasing pressure to reduce its carbon footprint with growing international alarm about the impact of plastic waste on the environment. Lego reportedly gives off around a million tons of carbon dioxide each year, with about three-quarters coming from raw materials that go into factories. It produces 19 billion pieces per year -36, 000 a minute - that are made of plastic and much of the inner packaging is also plastic.
So far, the only breakthrough has been the development of a line of bricks made from plant-based plastic sourced from sugarcane(甘蔗). The green trees, plants and flowers were first included in Lego sets late last year but account for only one-two percent of the total amount of plastic elements produced.
Henrik Ostergaard Nielson, a production administrator in Lego's factory, told the New York Times last year, "We need to learn again how to do this. " The company has invested more than €100, 000, 000and hired 100 people to research non-plastic alternatives. It is aiming to keep all of its packaging reusable by 2025.
