The world’s biggest toy brand and Products of Change member, the LEGO Group is laying new foundations for its own circular economic business model with the launch of a pilot LEGO brick take back service here in the UK.
Called LEGO Replay, the initiative is the Danish toymaker’s latest move to test new sustainable solutions, reduce its environmental impact, and stop LEGO bricks from becoming waste.
Research conducted in the UK back in 2021 found that 94% of families already have a plan for their pre-loved LEGO bricks by passing them on to friends, families, charities or local schools, or sell them on re-sell platforms. However, LEGO Replay – which was introduced to the US market back in October 2019 – will now help the remaining UK fans left unsure what to do with their used LEGO bricks.
The pilot programme will test new uses for the bricks donated by families and fans. During this exploratory phase, the returned used bricks will be recycled into new items that support learning in schools, such as storage boxes for toys.
Working with charity partners such as In Kind Direct, LEGO will fill every new box with LEGO bricks before they are distributed to schools and community centres around the UK to help inspire play and creativity.
Tim Brooks, LEGO’s vp of environmental sustainability, said: “We’re really proud that so many of our fans in the UK already pass the joy of LEGO play to others. Our bricks are designed to be durable and safe enough to be handed down from generation to generation to inspire endless play and creativity for many years.
“Piloting LEGO Replay in the UK is an important step on our journey to becoming more circular. We want to rehome, repurpose, or recycle every LEGO brick to keep them in play for longer. We hope LEGO Replay will help even more people donate their LEGO bricks with ease and feel proud they are supporting playful learning for children across the country.”
Fans keen to help the business trial the scheme can simply pack up any used bricks in any box, print out a freepost label from LEGO.com/Replay-UK and ship them from any DPD Drop Shop across England, Scotland, and Wales. A freepost service for LEGO fans in Northern Ireland will also be available soon.
LEGO Replay launched in the US in 2019 and expanded to Canada in 2021. So far, over 230 million LEGO bricks have been donated by North American families, giving 300,000 children-in-need playful learning opportunities and preventing LEGO bricks from going to waste.
The UK LEGO Replay trial is one part of the toy company’s broader circular strategy – including a number of test and learn programmes – with the ambition to advance circular capabilities and concepts. LEGO has recently committed to triple spending on sustainability over four years to $1.4billion.
Current initiatives include: sustainable and circular material innovation, which includes removing all single-use plastic from its packaging; a transition to zero impact operations, which entails reducing absolute carbon emissions by 37% by 2032 as part of its Science Based Target; and inspiring and developing the builders of tomorrow by providing more children around the world with opportunities to develop critical life-long skills through play.
