LEGO Characteristics and Sustainability

[Conchas]

Hi!

As LUG Ambassador for TechnicBRICKs I got involved into a workgroup to discuss and gather community feedback about sustainability and most relevant LEGO products characteristics in this regard.

Here we're also particularly interested in the feedback from the LEGO Technic community.

This is a wide topic where you may consider many aspects like the raw materials used to produce LEGO bricks, packaging, building instructions, production facilities, energy, delivery chain, social responsibility, etc. And of course many other you'll certainly remember!

To help framing your inputs we got four questions, for which we'd like to hear from you. Please feel free to answer by leaving your comments to this post.

1. First, please list what consumers can generally expect when a toy product is made of "sustainable materials". Kindly elaborate your answers and provide examples, if possible. The richer descriptions you provide, the more we know excatly what you mean!
   Please rank what is most important (1 = most important etc.
   
2. What characteristics of the LEGO experience are currently most important to consumers? For each characteristic, please describe excatly what it is about. The more explanation you provide, the better we understand your input.
   Please rank what is most important (1 = most important etc.)
   
3. What characteristics of the LEGO experiences are relevant to consider when addressing "sustainable materials"? Rich descriptions and examples, please.
   Please rank what is most important (1 = most important etc.)
   
4. Is there anything else you feel is important regarding Sustainable Materials that wasn't covered in the questions above, that might help get a better view about the topic?
   

Many thanks in advance for your feedback!

[allanp]

Answered at TechnicBRICKs.

[Cumulonimbus]

As an industrial design engineer, I have had the opportunity to work on sustainability of plastic parts and products as a whole. I find it a bit limiting that the questions asked mostly inquire about sustainable materials since, in my experience, the sustainability of any product is determined by so much more than just the materials it is made of. Anyway, here are my answers and I have clarified my point of view in the last question:

Q1. First, please list what consumers can generally expect when a toy product is made of "sustainable materials":

In my opinion, for most consumers sustainable materials is synonymous with natural materials, so a wooden toy will be perceived more sustainable that a plastic one. The average consumer will not stop to consider that a plastic product can still be the more sustainable option if it has for example a longer life span, a better end of life solution or hasn't travelled as far before it is in the same shop.

Most consumers will feel that Lego sets and parts are of a higher quality than a typical "Made in China" equivalent, but most will not associate this quality with sustainability.

If I see a product advertised as "sustainable" I expect that the manufacturer has taken every factor about the environmental impact of that product into account. This means that aspects such as the material resources, the energy use during production, the impact of logistics, the energy use during the life span and length of that life span and the end of life solution are well thought through. If this hasn't been the case while the product is claimed to be better for the environment (often associated by terms such as "green"), I see it as a marketing trick to fool consumers. So honesty and clear communication is very important to convince me as consumer.

A sustainable product for me must:

1. Present a clever and viable solution for its environmental impact

2. Be honest about its impact

3. Ensure its quality during its life span

4. Provide recycle and/or reuse options at the end of life.

Q2. What characteristics of the LEGO experience are currently most important to consumers?

Since this is a Lego Technic forum, I won't elaborate too much here. For me the most important values of Lego (Technic) are:

1. Modularity (flexibility, freedom of design, possibilities outrun restrictions)

2. Quality (longevity, fit and finish of parts, high build standard of official sets)

3. Innovation (new parts, evolution in sets quality and complexity, creativity of represented machines)

Q3. What characteristics of the LEGO experiences are relevant to consider when addressing "sustainable materials"?

I find it difficult to say anything about the sustainability of Lego, since I haven't done any LCA as a cases study. Sure, the parts are made from a oil-based resource, but then again, the quality is so high that parts have a life span anything from 10 to 30 years. Additionally, the parts can be used countless times and do not require much energy or resources during its use. They are relatively light weight and nicely packed in boxes with not a lot of empty space inside, so the logistics are quite fine as well. This leads me to believe that Lego will come out quite favourably in a head to head comparison with other toys.

Therefore, I see a lot more potential for TLG in education about sustainability, like the 9688 Renewable energy education kit has done on a small scale. The solar panel and the generator educated kids about sustainability in construction and this could be elaborated much more by incorporating this more in new sets.

If TLG is considering sustainability as a goal it must consider:

1. Formulate a clear sustainability vision for the future: which goal is TLG trying to achieve and why? 2. Ensure no loss of quality and full compatibility with current bricks, even after some use

3. Education: explain meaning and objective of sustainability to kids and teach the basics.

4. Find responsible (preferably renewable) resources

Q4. Is there anything else you feel is important regarding Sustainable Materials that wasn't covered in the questions above, that might help get a better view about the topic?

It is crucial to understand that the environmental impact of any product is the sum of the impact of each phase in its life cycle. So not only the pollution, materials and energy demands of the production and distribution, but the impact of the use and end of life phase as well. As explained, the impact of the use of Lego bricks and sets will be small, so the greatest potential for improvement will be in the production of parts (IF the quality doesn't degrease) and at the end of life.

In my opinion something very interesting can happen at the end of life of Lego. Should old, broken Lego be collected and recycled? Is this still a good idea if TLG decides to switch form ABS to another (biobased) compound? What about the impact of the logistics involved to send the old parts to a recycler. Could the recycling be done at a local level, eliminating most of the logistics? All very interesting questions to which the answer is not easily formulated.

Literature describes that a perceived beneficial (for the buyer) price-value ratio is the reason why purchases are made, and very few consumers will feel that a low environmental impact will add enough value to justify an often higher price. Therefore for sustainability to be successful, it must be economically viable as well. Luckily, reducing materials and energy used, limiting transport all result a lower cost price of a product. Therefore sustainability is good for the planet as well as for profit.

In my experience an LCA (Life Cycle Analysis) is the only tool to get scientific data about sustainability of a product(and/or service) and its life cycle. This tool breaks the environmental impact of a product down into all the aspects of impact in each of its phases. It is a laborious process and the accuracy greatly depends on the quality of the databases used. But if done correctly, it allows to compare the impact of different product-service combinations and make a good choice.

My humble advice would be:

1. Don't focus too much on just the materials

2. Use proper tools and experienced professionals

3. Formulate a clear vision on how sustainability will fit in the TLG business model. Will it just be the parts, or should this be reflected in the sets and models or even in the TLG buildings and other TLG activities?

[Moz]

I'm going to answer for myself rather than for some imagined "consumers".

1: First, please list what consumers can generally expect when a toy product is made of "sustainable materials".

The materials must be entirely renewable, and ideally produced and processed using renewable energy and materials. This is not merely about avoiding fossil fuels, also about toxic materials both as inputs and outputs. I would expect a documented chain of production, starting with 100% post-consumer recycled or organically farmed inputs, and going through to how the packaging is recycled (hint: in Australia it isn't. The plastic bags are not accepted by many/most recycling stations, and TLG here will not accept returned packaging and is not interested in assisting people to recycle it). Ideally Lego retailers would have a box to deposit packaging in, and there would be evidence that what goes into the box is reused in some way rather than burnt or sent to landfill. This bothers me a lot, since I regularly buy multiple Lego sets and am left with a giant pile of cardboard boxes and plastic bags, and my local council cannot recycle the bags. Not to mention the duplicate sets of instructions, and in many ways the instructions full stop, as I'm quite happy to build using a (solar-powered!) computer. But being able to buy Lego sets without instructions and boxes would be a very nice thing, it would make the Lego online shops worthwhile (currently I buy either from Bricklink or bricks and mortar stores because the Lego online shop is expensive and slow)

2: What characteristics of the LEGO experience are currently most important to consumers?

For me, I enjoy building things with my hands. Lego offers the thought-free version of that, I can just follow the instructions and end up with something interesting. But I can (and do!) also make MOCs and build small tools and assemblies for myself. From Eurobricks an example would be the camera dolly thread (I have built them, but that's not my MOC).

3: What characteristics of the LEGO experiences are relevant to consider when addressing "sustainable materials"?

I don't understand how this differs from question 1.

Is there anything else you feel is important regarding Sustainable Materials

"Sustainable materials" is not a binary choice, it's a continuum. At one end is, say, burning fossil chemical feedstocks to get heat, at the other is photosynthesising. I don't expect TLG to do either. Seeing TLG become more sustainable would be a very good thing.

I suspect that the actual ABS plastic TLG uses is a tiny part of its material use, and relatively unimportant when other consumables are included. TLG could probably reduce its fossil fuel use tenfold while using 100% virgin ABS for the actual Lego pieces. So I would be more interested to see sustainable materials produced sustainably than a focus on the advertising-friendly "now made with sustainable plastic". Unless they're proposing to replace the existing cardboard and plastic packaging with a new edible bio-plastic, which would be very cool and I'd be excited. I'd like to see all TLG offices and factories using 100% renewable electricity, for example, rather than coal or nuclear energy.

[Conchas]

Many thanks for your all great insights so far!

You can rest assured these will be passed towards TLG.

Meanwhile TLG has also demonstrated concerns related with these topics and developed several initiatives/investments to improve sustainability of their activities.

You are probably aware of some of them, otherwise I'm sharing some links bellow.

http://www.lego.com/...orereferer=true

http://www.lego.com/...orereferer=true

http://www.lego.com/...n-all-lego-sets

http://www.lego.com/.../climate-savers

http://www.lego.com/...the-environment

http://www.lego.com/.../responsibility

http://www.lego.com/...-2014-downloads

[Cumulonimbus]

Thank you for the links, I had no idea that TLG is committing itself to sustainability on so many levels, nice to read that they are ambitious and committed.

It is my opinion that all people and companies thinking up and creating "stuff" have the responsibility to do this with our environment in mind. Most companies have yet to be convinced or simply do it as a advertising strategy instead of a genuine concern. I find it very impressive that TLG is even considering an alternative for the omnipresent ABS. I'm very curious to see how this strategy will pan out.

[zux]

It is a good intention to make new material environment friendly. However I believe the real thing AFOLs care about, in terms of LEGO, is to have many year old brick of the same quality the day it was bought - same color, shape and characteristics. And it would be unfortunate if brick would lose or change any of its parameters due to unintentional prolonged exposure to some common conditions - water or sunlight, as an example. So sustainable material for LEGO should be durable without programmed self destruction/utilization.

[Twelvebears]

I think focusing on the materials alone is missing the point. Sustainability is about longevity and how much of a thing stays in use and not ending up in landfill somewhere.

I will bet that just like original Landrovers, there is more Lego still in use than has ever been thrown away.

All because of the principle of compatibility through the years.

[Lyichir]

I think focusing on the materials alone is missing the point. Sustainability is about longevity and how much of a thing stays in use and not ending up in landfill somewhere.

I will bet that just like original Landrovers, there is more Lego still in use than has ever been thrown away.

All because of the principle of compatibility through the years.

The materials are an important part of it, though. For instance, no one is seriously advocating for Lego that biodegrades. But it would be nice if Lego could find a material that is more sustainably sourced—something that doesn't rely on environmentally risky fossil fuel extraction, for example. Lego has already made some steps toward greater sustainability, by beginning to transfer to wind power to power their production facilities and by ensuring that their cardboard packaging is sourced in an environmentally sustainable manner. But I'd reckon there are still lots of other ways that a corporation the size of The Lego Group can do better by the planet, some large, some small.