Plans to invest 400 million yuan in three years丨Lego strengthens the research and development of sustainable building blocks and has invested 2.79 billion yuan

Building block toys are one of the many toys for children, and many parents are also very keen to choose building block toys for their children, so that children can exercise their brain thinking and imagination ability when they do it. Recently, the LEGO Group announced that it plans to invest up to US$400 million in three years to further promote its sustainable development and social responsibility projects. The investment will include long-term investment projects and daily costs. The Lego Group will begin to phase out the disposable plastic bags used to pack loose particles in its product packaging boxes, which is also part of the Lego Group's goal of achieving all its packaging using sustainable materials by 2025. A series of sample packaging bags made of different sustainable materials have been tested by hundreds of parents and children. Among them, paper bags that are environmentally friendly and easy to open are very popular among children, and they will be tested in 2021. In addition, according to the British Sky News report on September 15 local time, in order to support environmental protection, the Danish Lego company stated that by 2030, all Lego blocks will no longer be made of plastic. It is reported that Lego has invested 310 million pounds (approximately 2.79 billion yuan) to use sustainable materials to upgrade its Lego bricks, but so far, it is quite difficult to find alternatives to oil-based plastics. In 2015, the company announced an investment of 116 million pounds (about 1.044 billion yuan) to use sustainable materials for its products. It is estimated that Lego uses 90,000 tons of plastic in its products each year. Lego also announced that it will no longer include plastic bags in boxed products. Starting next year, they will be phased out and replaced with paper bags-the company expects to complete the toy upgrade by 2025. In addition, Monopoly manufacturer Hasbro (Hasbro) also announced plans to no longer use plastic in its packaging. One of the environmental problems caused by plastic is that it does not decompose. On the contrary, it is broken down into tiny pieces that can be eaten by fish, birds and other wild animals, endangering their health, and enter the food chain, ultimately affecting humans and even the entire natural environment. Not long ago, the Lego Group released its financial report for the first half of the year ending June 30, 2020. The financial report shows that in the first half of 2020, retail sales increased by 14% compared to the same period in 2019, and revenue increased by 7% compared to the same period in 2019, reaching 15.7 billion Danish kroner (17.07 billion yuan); its operating profit increased by 11% to 3.9 billion Danish kroner ( 4.24 billion yuan), of which cash flow was strong, reaching 4.1 billion Danish kroner (4.46 billion yuan). In addition, it has achieved double-digit retail sales growth in major markets such as the Americas, Western Europe, Asia Pacific and China. In addition, in the first half of 2020, in all Lego product portfolios, multiple series of long-life authorized IPs such as classic models and movies and animations have been integrated. The classic creative series, the Lego® Disney Princess series, the Lego® Harry Potter and the Lego® racing series performed the best, which also means that the Lego play experience is quite attractive to fans of different ages and hobbies. Lego continues to explore the Chinese market. On the one hand, the development of IP products tends to be more and more localized. Lego takes its design inspiration to Chinese culture and chooses one of China’s four masterpieces 'Journey to the West' as its inspiration design. Wukong Xiaoxia series, this product covers 8 models, such as Monkey King Golden Mecha, Zhu Master's mobile nail rake, White Dragon Horse Chariot, Red Boy Evil Fire Chariot, etc. On the other hand, it is cooperating with game companies. In January this year, Lego renewed its strategic cooperation with Tencent, and the two parties will deepen cooperation in the fields of video, games, digital child safety, and explore social, intellectual property, and corporate social responsibility. New possibilities for cooperation in the field. At the same time, Lego expanded the product development of game IP, and cooperated with Nintendo to launch the Lego® Super Mario series that integrates digital and physical play, creating a new play experience.