As the world continues to reel from record-breaking temperatures and other effects of an overheating planet, the Danish company LEGO has announced its investment of $2.4 million in carbon capture, as reported by GreenBiz.
"We were the first large toy company to announce a science-based emissions reduction target in 2020 and we want to continue to lead the way in finding innovative solutions for the challenges we face," said LEGO Group's chief sustainability officer Annette Stube, according to Edie.
LEGO, known for its plastic toys, has been experimenting with other materials that are either recycled or less damaging than plastic, which is made mostly from natural gas and refined oil.
These dirty energy sources produce carbon during manufacturing, contributing to rising global temperatures.
Last September, however, LEGO abandoned efforts to make bricks from recycled plastics, citing that it would increase the amount of harmful carbon pollution released over time. Instead, the company is looking to offset the carbon pollution from its manufacturing by supporting carbon removal projects.
"In addition to our ongoing efforts to reduce our own emissions, we want to explore and support impactful climate solutions that have the potential to permanently remove and sequester hard to abate greenhouse gas emissions," said Michael Skou, the head of strategy and sustainability for LEGO's holding company Kirkbi.
LEGO is partnering for the first time with carbon removal company Climeworks, which runs a large facility in Iceland that filters carbon dioxide pollution. Through direct carbon capture, the "Orca" facility can extract about 4,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually.
Meanwhile, LEGO is continuing its reuse and recycling program and boosting the use of sustainable materials, such as sugarcane, to augment the 18% of its plastic that already comes from non-petroleum sources, so you can feel good buying the blocks. One of the newest materials introduced is arMABS, which is often made from artificial marble kitchen counters, as Green Biz detailed.
"We are also excited to be working on the development of a material called ePOM, which uses cutting-edge technology to blend renewable energy and CO2 from bio-waste," the company said, reported by Plastic Insights.
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