The LEGO Group, famous for its snap-together plastic-brick playsets, continues its phase out of single-use plastic bags in LEGO boxes and replacing plastic pre-pack bags with new standup paper bags from Forest Stewardship Council-certified forests and FSC-controlled wood.
The rollout of the new paper-based bags, which are verified as recyclable in the European Union, United States and Canada, started in Europe and Asia in 2023 and continued last year when the rollout across the Americas markets began. About half of LEGO’s packaging lines worldwide are now using the paper-based flexible packaging.
Tim Brooks, vp-Environmental Responsibility at the LEGO Group, says, “The transition to paper-based bags is a significant milestone in the LEGO Group’s sustainable materials journey. Phasing out single-use plastic from our products has been very important to us as this material is rarely recycled, unlike paper-based bags. We committed to doing this four years ago and have faced a number of technical challenges to find a bag that would not compromise the high standards LEGO fans expect from us. It’s been a true team effort to arrive at this exciting moment and we’re very proud to see the paper-based bag rollout gain real momentum.”
A challenge for the LEGO operations team
Work on the transition from single-use plastic to paper-based materials began in 2022 with a team of designers and engineers working together to create a bag that would meet the LEGO brand’s quality standards and support a great building experience for LEGO fans. Pre-pack bags are an important part of the LEGO building process as they are used to package together loose bricks and are printed with numbers to indicate sequence, so the bags must not tear during shipping.
The bags are made of 95% paper with the remainder being a thin plastic coating, which purpose is to protect the LEGO elements from puncturing the bag as well as gluing the bag together. The paper also needs to be able to withstand the manufacturing process in all LEGO factories. Paper is more sensitive than plastic to changes in humidity and weather, and it has been important to find a bag that can be made and used, whether the factories are located in a hot, humid climate or a colder one.
Around 180 different papers and formats were tested in the quest to get the new bags just right and the team’s amazing work is now rolling off production lines at factories in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Vietnam and China.
New packaging for Pick a Brick
Pick & Build walls in LEGO Retail Stores will also offer paper-based containers as flat-pack, quick assembly cardboard boxes are replacing plastic cups. The new boxes take up less than half of the space of the old container, meaning they are easier and more efficient to store and ship. The new format was phased in across European and North American markets in 2023 with South American and Asian markets last year.