LEGO is taking a more sustainable and green approach with its rubber tire production process. (Image Credit: LEGO)
LEGO is driving toward a more sustainable and green route. The company recently announced it produces tires out of 30% recycled materials, giving these waste products a new use. LEGO takes the materials, including ropes, fishing nets, and recycled engine oil, and processes/combines them into rSEBS (recycled styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene). It has already integrated the robust tires into existing sets. When integrated into the tires, the rubber material does not affect its appearance or texture. According to LEGO, the tires could be featured in approximately 120 various LEGO sets.
"This is an exciting step in our ambition to make LEGO products more sustainable and reduce our dependence on virgin fossil fuels. Over the past five years, we have invested significant time in developing and testing this new recycled material to ensure it meets our high standards for quality, safety, and durability," said Annette Stube, the company's Chief Sustainability Officer.
By 2032, LEGO hopes to manufacture its entire product line with renewable and recycled materials. "Over the past five years, we have invested significant time in developing and testing this new recycled material to ensure it meets our high standards for quality, safety, and durability. The tires are just one of many options we're working on to make our products more sustainable, and it's encouraging to see something this innovative making it into our sets," said Stube.
This may be surprising, but LEGO is the world's leading tire manufacturer. The toy company makes approximately over 300 million toy tires per year. It's important to note that these tires are smaller and not designed for vehicle use. According to Guinness World Records, the tires have a solid rubber compound composition—similar to what domestic car tires also use even though they're not pneumatic and designed for toy models. That means LEGO's tires are appropriately categorized as standard tires. LEGO's tire production peaked in 2010 with 381 million tires. The Danish company has held the record for the largest annual tire production since.
Synthetic rubber manufacturing requires a lot of power, which pollutes the environment. It uses fossil fuels for raw materials and energy sources, resulting in significant CO2 emissions that contribute to global warming. According to estimates, manufacturing one ton of synthetic rubber generates over 2.5 tons of CO2 emissions.
Thankfully, LEGO's new tire materials slash waste and make the company less dependent on fossil fuel-based materials. "The introduction of this material, known as rSEBS*, is part of the company's broader efforts to make LEGO Group bricks and packaging from more sustainable materials," LEGO said.
They've already looked into 600 materials to expand renewable and recycled resources in their products. It previously worked on a project to manufacture bricks made of recycled PET plastic bottles. LEGO discovered that switching to this process boosts its carbon footprint. So, they canceled those plans.
That didn't stop the toy company from exploring ways to produce its bricks out of more sustainable materials. By 2032, LEGO wants to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 37%. The global toy brand uses bio-polyethylene made of sugarcane for its windows and other transparent elements. They're also trying other materials, including e-methanol and ePOM, in their products.
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