LEGO goes wind powered

Holding and investment company KIRKBI A/S, which owns 75% of The LEGO Group, has invested approximately DKK 3bn (over $587m) in the construction of the offshore wind farm ‘Borkum Riffgrund 1’ in the German North Sea. Located 54 km off the coast, the wind farm will help The LEGO Group reach its goal of being 100% renewable energy powered by 2020.

After two years of work, the first of the farm’s 78 wind turbines have begun delivering power into the mainland electricity grid. Once all the turbines are commissioned, the wind farm will be capable of generating up to 312 MW of electricity - enough to power approximately 320,000 households. KIRKBI A/S owns 31.5% of the farm’s total production.

This is just one of the several initiatives The LEGO Group has undertaken as part of its “ambitious environmental agenda”, according to president and CEO Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, with the company having achieved an increase in energy efficiency of more than 30% in the last five years. In 2013, as part of a Climate Savers partnership with the WWF, the group committed to cutting the energy it uses to create each LEGO element by 10% and becoming carbon positive by the end of 2016.

The introduction of smaller LEGO boxes in 2014 has saved approximately 6000 tonnes of cardboard and reduced the company’s transportation needs by approximately 3000 trucks, which equals to a saving of 10,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions. The company has also taken responsibility for product safety, labour rights, employee safety and engagement with the local community where it operates.

“We want to make a positive impact on the world that all children will inherit,” Knudstorp stated.