Sustainability reporting

happy children

Children

Everything we do is driven by our desire to put children first. We champion the power of learning through play to inspire children to become the builders of tomorrow, and provide safe physical and digital products that promote children’s wellbeing.

Inspiring children to learn through play

In 2019, we reached more than 1.8 million children in our employees’ local communities.

  • 182,000 children globally participated in 500+ local events designed
    to help children learn through play.
  • 239,000 children reached through partner donations.
  • 1,420,000 LEGO® sets donated to children through our Build to Give program and other in-kind donations .
  • 20,000 children reached through teacher trainings and other train-the-trainer initiatives
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  • 2018 result
    840,000
    children reached
  • 2019 result
    1,860,000
    children reached
  • 2020 target
    2,000,000
    children reached
    Currently
    80,343
    children reached
Employee playing with a child
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LEGO® employees across 26 countries volunteered in activities to support children, in 2019. That’s a 23% increase from 2018 and we aim to increase this number significantly over the next three years.
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Environment

Our ambition is for our business is to go beyond zero impact and to have a positive impact on the environment. Here’s what we’re doing to reduce waste, use sustainable materials and become emissions free .
The globe with wind turbines and animals

Sustainable materials

Our ambition is to make LEGO® bricks from sustainable sources by 2030 without compromising quality or safety. This a bold ambition as it requires creating entirely new materials. Currently, around 2% of LEGO elements (80 of the 3,600 available) are made from materials that meet our sustainability requirements, including the leaves of the LEGO® Ideas Treehouse.
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LEGO Replay box ready to be shipped
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(22,000 kg) of LEGO® bricks were donated in 2019 as part of the LEGO Replay programme. A step towards creating a circular business model by encouraging consumers to pass on LEGO bricks to children in need of play.
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Carbon efficiency

In 2016, we partnered with the WWF to set a target to improve the carbon efficiency of making a LEGO® brick by 10% by 2020. We are working to meet this target, although carbon efficiency decreased in 2019 by 0.1% vs 2018 due to lower than planned production levels. This negatively impacts energy effectiveness, as factories use the same energy for lighting and cooling/heating, but do not produce as many bricks.

  1. 2016

  2. 2017

    -25.4%

  3. 2018

    -14.1%

  4. 2019

    -13.1%

  5. 2020 target

    10%

Zero waste

By 2025, our ambition is to ensure no waste from any LEGO® factory, office, or store will reach landfill. We are on track to reach this target and currently recycle 93% of all waste, including 100% of plastic waste from our moulding machines.

Don’t let it go to waste

In 2016 we set a very ambitious target in partnership with WWF to improve waste efficiency from our own operations by 10% by 2020. In 2019 we generated 18,270 tonnes of waste and improved waste efficiency by 0.5%. To meet our 2020 target we need to reduce the total amount by 3,000 tonnes. This will be very challenging and we are revising our processes as well as employing more waste managers in an attempt to reach this goal.

  1. 2016

  2. 2017

    -2.9%

  3. 2018

    -6.3%

  4. 2019

    -6.3%

  5. 2020 target

    10%

People

We care deeply about the people who make LEGO® play experiences possible. Here’s what we’re doing to ensure our workplace and supply chain are safe and inclusive.

Celebrating diversity

We aim for a diverse and inclusive workplace that brings together people of different nationalities, genders and capabilities.​ In 2019, women accounted for 43 of positions filled at manager level and above, including 63% of the Vice President and Senior Vice President roles filled.

  1. 2016

    44%

  2. 2017

    41%

  3. 2018

    43%

  4. 2019

    43%

  5. 2020 target

    40%

A responsible supply chain

Our suppliers are audited regularly by third-parties to ensure compliance with our Responsible Business Principles. In 2019, we conducted audits with 100% of suppliers scheduled for review. We work with our suppliers to increase their compliance with our Responsible Business Principles by identifying non-conformities and supporting them to correct these issues within an agreed timeframe. In 2019, 69% of suppliers (41 out of 59 suppliers) audited did not have non-conformities that required immediate correction, an increase from 67% in 2018 but below our target of 70%.

  1. 2017

    71%

  2. 2018

    67%

  3. 2019

    69%

  4. 2020 target

    70%
Children minifigures playing in a creative house

2019 sustainability headlines

We’re working to build a more sustainable world for children. Check out some of the steps we’ve taken and join the LEGO sustainability journey.