Lego to replace oil in bricks with renewable plastic

Lego is swapping out fossil fuels for more expensive renewable plastics as profits surge.

Transcript

00:00I'm Conway Gittins reporting from the New York Stock Exchange. Here's what we're watching on

00:03the street today. The Dow said its third record closing high this week despite more signs of

00:09retail gloom. Dollar General missed Wall Street's sales and profit targets. The discount retailer

00:15says its core low-income customer is struggling in this economy. Investors didn't totally buy

00:22that and punished the stock with a 30% plunge. In other news, LEGO is making changes to its

00:29iconic bricks in order to make them more environmentally friendly. The toy maker is

00:34in search of renewable and recycled plastic even though going green will make its toys more costly

00:40to produce. LEGO sells billions of plastic bricks a year and has made many attempts to find a

00:47sustainable source. It has already laid out plans to completely get rid of oil-based bricks by 2030

00:53and totally switch to renewable and recycled materials for all its toys by 2032. According

01:00to its website, quote, each year we receive hundreds of letters from children with great

01:06ideas about how we can make a difference in the world and help care for the environment. We want

01:11them to know that we are listening and that we are working hard to play our part in building a

01:16sustainable future and a more inclusive world. In 2023, LEGO boosted its sustainability spending

01:22by 60% from 2022 levels and plans to double that by 2025 and it certainly has the cash to do so.

01:30While other toy makers are seeing slower demand, LEGO sales jumped 14% during the first half of

01:36the year. LEGO, however, is not alone in its green ambitions. Hasbro is using more sustainable

01:42components in its toys and Mattel has laid out plans that will kick in at the start of the decade.

01:48That'll do it for your daily briefing. From the New York Stock Exchange,

01:51I'm Conway Gittins with The Street.