The LEGO Group announced the introduction of tire pieces in its toy sets containing recycled materials, forming part of the company’s efforts to increase the use of sustainable materials in its products and reduce reliance on virgin fossil fuel-based ingredients.

According to the LEGO Group, the new tires contain “rSEBS,” a material created by repurposing discarded ropes and nets from ocean vessels, and combining with recycled engine oil.

The company said that tires containing at least 30% recycled content, which are indistinguishable from current tires, have already started appearing in LEGO sets, and will be initially used in seven tire pieces, with a full transition to approximately 120 different sets anticipated by the end of 2025, with plans to explore ways to expand recycled content across more tire styles in the near future.

The initiative forms part of a series of moves by the company as it works towards achieving its sustainability commitments, which include a goal to make its products from more sustainable materials, or those produced using renewable or recycled resources and generating little or no waste, by 2032.

One of LEGO Group’s sustainability strategy’s key focus areas includes initiatives to invest in sustainable materials research to reduce the carbon footprint of products and packaging. The company recently said that it is beginning to produce paper-based bags for LEGO sets at its factories around the world, and that it achieved an 83% increase in renewable content in its bricks in the first six months of 2024. The company announced in 2023 that it had dropped its plans to produce bricks from rPET plastics from recycled bottles, one of its key projects aimed at shifting away from fossil-based plastics, following two years of testing, after determining that it would not ultimately result in reduced carbon emissions. The LEGO Group said that it has tested over 600 different materials for its bricks and elements.

Annette Stube, Chief Sustainability Officer at The LEGO Group, said:

“This is an exciting step in our ambition to make LEGO products more sustainable and reduce our dependence on virgin fossil fuels. Over the past five years, we have invested significant time in developing and testing this new recycled material to ensure it meets our high standards for quality, safety, and durability. The tires are just one of many options we’re working on to make our products more sustainable and it’s encouraging to see something this innovative making it into our sets.”