LEGO Group updated its progress on its initiative to switch to paper bags in the packaging of its LEGO sets, as part of the company’s commitment to reduce single-use plastics from its packaging.

The update follows an announcement by the company last year that it would begin phasing out single-use plastic in LEGO boxes, replacing plastic pre-pack bags with new bags made with paper, starting in Europe and Asia.

The initiative forms part of a series of moves by the company as it works towards achieving its sustainability commitments, which include a goal to make its products from more sustainable materials, or those produced using renewable or recycled resources and generating little or no waste, by 2032, as well as its targets to reach net zero emissions across the value chain by 2050 and to reduce carbon emissions by 37% by 2032, on a 2019 basis.

One of LEGO Group’s sustainability strategy’s key focus areas includes initiatives to invest in sustainable materials research to reduce the carbon footprint of products and packaging.

In its update, LEGO Group revealed that it had tested 180 different varieties of paper, in order to find a bag that could withstand the manufacturing process and wouldn’t tear in transit. The company said that it has also modified its factories for the new bags, updating its packaging lines and controlling humidity, noting that paper is more sensitive to humidity than plastic. The new bags have also been verified as recyclable in the EU, U.S., and Canada, the company said.

LEGO Group said that it is starting to make paper-based bags at its factories around the world, with all factories globally having started production. The company added that the paper-based bags are increasingly being included in sets in its factories in Europe and Asia, and are ready to begin rolling out in the Americas as well.

On the company’s website, outlining additional benefits and features of the new bags, LEGO Group said:

“Paper has the unintended benefit of being more enjoyable to unwrap, because while clear, single-use plastic bags allow builders to see the contents, we discovered in testing that kids enjoyed the suspense of opening the paper-based bags! Our larger paper-based bags come in a shape that enables them to stand, which is particularly useful for storing loose bricks during the building process.”

Image source: The LEGO Group