BLE EXCLUSIVE: Sine Klitgaard Møller on the LEGO Group’s sustainability initiatives

The LEGO Group is participating in the BLE Sustainability Activation in partnership with Products of Change at Brand Licensing Europe 2021. The event runs in person from 17-19 November with follow-up online content launching 22 November and online networking taking place 30 November – 1 December. Registration is free at www.brandlicensing.eu

Ahead of the event, Sine Klitgaard Møller, Director Licensing & Extended Line Sustainability Transformation, the LEGO Group, outlines the measures the company has implemented to reduce its environmental impact.

The LEGO Group is being praised for pushing the sustainability agenda in the toy sector. Tell us what you’ve done and still plan to do.

At the LEGO Group, we want to play our part in building a sustainable future and creating a brighter world for children to inherit. We are guided by our Planet Promise, an approach built on the idea of leaving a positive impact.

When it comes to the environment, the LEGO Group is working to minimise the environmental impact of our operations and to make our products and packaging from more sustainable materials. In 2018, we launched our first bio-based elements made from sustainably sourced sugar cane. In 2020, we revealed and started piloting our new paper bags that will hold LEGO bricks in product sets. And earlier this year, we unveiled a LEGO prototype brick made from recycled plastic.

Within our licensing function, we’re working closely with the licensing partners on sustainability initiatives. Our big focus right now is to make our packaging more sustainable and to remove all single-use plastic. One example is the development of packaging guides for our partners, which include material guidelines, inspiration and ideas on how to remove plastic from designs.

We started looking at our licensing portfolio in 2019. We spent a lot of time educating ourselves and hiring experts. Understanding what our environmental impacts were and their magnitude was the first step we took. We then had to prioritise our efforts, as the list of potential projects kept growing, and ultimately, we built a strategy.

Today, we’re at a point where our understanding is deep, and we have created a systematic approach to sustainabiltiy in our licensing portfolio. And we are bringing our partners along on the journey with us. For example, we’re asking them to report through CDP as part of the LEGO Group’s supplier Engage-to-Reduce programme. We are also looking to create more playbooks to help guide our partners on, for example, their product materials challenges.

Do you have key performance indicators that you can share with us?

The targets that are most relevant to my work are firstly, our ambition to remove single-use plastic and transition to more sustainable packaging by end 2025, and secondly, our science-based CO2 target to reduce emissions by 37% by 2032, compared with 2019, which not only covers our own operations but also the supply chain – and includes all of our licensing partners.

What can other brands, manufacturers and retailers learn from LEGO Group’s experience when it comes to sustainability?

I think we can all learn from each other, as it is such a complex agenda to grasp. One thing is for sure, no one can ignore the climate crisis and carry on with business as usual. We must each be open to learning new ways and challenge ourselves to find solutions to the changes we must implement.

My biggest learnings personally came through educating myself on climate change and circular economy principles and understanding the need to partner with environmental experts on my projects. I’m also lucky to work for a creative brand where creative thinking is baked into the way we work.

What will visitors to Brand Licensing Europe see from the LEGO Group in the Sustainability Activation? 

We are excited to share the first brown reduced-print ADIDAS x LEGO shoebox, LEGO CITY bedding with no single-use plastic and a reduced-print packaging card, made by Character World for JYSK, and a LEGO Brick Backpack made from recycled PET plastic bottles, by Carry Gear Solution.

What’s the one message you’d like the licensing industry to take away from visiting you at BLE? 

We want to inspire others to get started on their sustainability journey if they have not already done so. We also want to encourage our peers to join forces and work together, so that we can all learn from one another. Sustainability will be the licence to operate and a requirement of how we do business in the future, which is why it’s so important for us to act now.

What’s the one message you’re sharing with kids – big and small – about sustainability through the LEGO Group? 

The LEGO Group have a responsibility to take urgent action and protect the world that children will inherit. And we’re working hard to play our part in building a sustainable future.

We also believe that children’s voices on sustainability need to be heard, and we want to help give children a greater platform. For example, at COP26, the LEGO Group shared Building Instructions for a Better World with decision makers, informing leaders what young people believe need to happen if we’re to tackle the climate crisis and create a more sustainable future.

 

Sky’s Obki ties up with Products of Change to launch sustainable character merchandise

With Brand Licensing Europe just around the corner, Products of Change has announced the launch of a truly sustainable brand champion for the community and planet.

Obki on Sky Kids will be a leading force in driving the sustainability agenda on a global platform through a series of worldwide licensing deals via newly signed licensing agency the Radius Group. Launching at The Brand Licensing Europe Show on November 17, supported by Products of Change, Obki will bring together the most sustainable companies to curate a range of brand lifestyle products, including apparel, plush, toys, food, drink and publishing for children.

The cartoon series on Sky Kids features Obki, a loveable alien, on his journey to be a positive force for good on Earth. The show is part of Sky’s campaign to be net zero carbon by 2030 and its commitment to encourage its customers to #GoZero, by using its content and channels to raise awareness of the climate crisis and inspire viewers with actions they can take to protect the planet.

Products of Change is a global educational hub aimed at driving sustainable change across consumer product markets and beyond and will highlight the inroad that Obki on Sky Kids is making as a sustainable brand. With growing numbers of shoppers calling on retailers, brands and governments to implement change from Cop26, Obki is working with Sky Zero and Products of Change as part of its strategy.

Global licensing expert and CEO of the Radius Group, Damian Hopkins, says: “Obki has a unique ability to command the most sustainable licensing partners and influence what toys, clothes and food consumers buy and how they use their purchases at home. Obki will lead by example, driving change in the character licensing industry, by collaborating with licensees and partners to deliver products with sustainability at their core.”

Obki founder Amanda Evans coined the term “small step sustainability” – the notion that providing customers with a wide range of branded goods that they know and trust as being truly sustainable will make it easier and quicker for them to make multiple sustainable decisions, both in store and at home.

For 2022, Obki will focus on being the voice of positivity and proactivity in the face of climate change doom and gloom and communicate that small changes make a big difference. Customers will be able to view Obki on Sky Kids and obtain detailed information about the sustainability credentials of Obki’s food, clothing, toys or homewares that they are purchasing.

Amanda says: “We want to educate consumers about Obki’s sustainability principles and how they can shop more ethically and reach for the product that they know is better for the planet. Retailers will then be able to shift ethically minded consumers towards these products. Obki will become an active ambassador for climate change by inspiring the next generation to be environmentally intuitive in their thinking and decision making.”

Helena Mansell-Stopher, CEO and founder of Products of Change, says: “Obki is an example of a brand that embeds sustainability into its thinking and operations. To see the ambitions of the team to build a truly sustainable licensed brand from content to product is pretty phenomenal, as well as incorporating a large proportion of the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals within its sustainability framework. It is a real honour to be working with such a progressive team at Obki to bring this to life, and I am really looking forward to watching its success around the world.”

OBKI was screened at COP26 at a special event called ‘World Leaders Listen Up’ and Obki’s animator Simone Giampaolo was chosen as a UK Government ‘One Step Greener’ Ambassador.