Much hype perhaps has been made of LEGO and its various measures to achieve sustainability in their operations and their products, from sustainable power for infrastructure to the introduction of sustainable manufacturing materials like plant-based plastics, now used to make LEGO’s plant pieces and elements, and more in the future.
Not just LEGO, but fellow well-established toy brands like Hasbro, Mattel and more are focused on the ideal of sustainability being part of their name. But according to BioBuddi, a toy company in the Netherlands, the big names in toys are not as dedicated to attaining sustainability as smaller toy brands like themselves, for instance.
BioBuddi manufactures early-age educational toys that are also made out of sustainable plastic materials made out of sugarcane. Their product history as such has recently earned them the American Eco-Excellence award, and they have plans to expand their market to 20 countries by next year.
With their entire range of toy products already made of renewables, BioBuddi is of the opinion that similar approaches by major brands such as LEGO haven’t been as thorough as smaller companies. “Guys like Hasbro, Mattel and LEGO – if they are not responding quickly enough to this change, they will lose their market share,” remarks BioBuddi general manager Job Nijssen.
As can be recalled, LEGO’s timetable for transitioning their manufacturing materials to sustainable plant-based plastics has a deadline of the year 2030. For the moment the new plastic has only been utilized in LEGO plant pieces, and the Plants from Plants (40320) special box set.