How LEGO's Procurement Strategy Drives Sustainability
The LEGO Group's 2025 Annual Results demonstrate how strategic procurement decisions are enabling the toy manufacturer to advance its climate and circularity objectives while achieving record financial performance.
With consumer sales growing 16% in 2025, The LEGO Group's procurement teams are playing a pivotal role in balancing commercial growth with environmental responsibility.
The company's purchasing strategies have delivered a significant milestone, with more than half of the materials procured to manufacture LEGO bricks now comprising renewable and recycled content.
Sustainable sourcing targets emissions reduction
The LEGO Group set a science-based target in 2020 to reduce total greenhouse gas emissions by 37% by 2032, compared to its 2019 baseline, as part of its journey towards net zero by 2050.
This ambition places considerable demands on its procurement function to source lower-carbon alternatives across its supply chain.
According to the company's 2025 results, Scope 3 emissions from purchased goods and services increased 12% compared to 2024 levels, largely attributed to strong sales growth.
This highlights the procurement challenge facing the organisation as it scales operations while attempting to decouple growth from emissions.
Niels B Christiansen, CEO of The LEGO Group, says: "We are very pleased with our record performance in 2025, building on last year's success. Our innovative and extensive portfolio, combined with the strength of the LEGO brand and an effective operating model, drove high demand."
He adds: "As we continued to invest in future growth, we brought multi-year strategic investments to life and reached more than half renewable and recycled content in the materials we buy to make LEGO bricks."
The company's procurement strategy also addresses Scope 1 emissions, with purchasing decisions supporting the transition away from natural gas consumption.
In 2025, 9% of total energy consumption came from natural gas, primarily used for factory heating.
The procurement team's company car policy, introduced in 2024, has resulted in nearly 50% of the fleet being electric vehicles.
Supply chain resilience planning
In 2025, The LEGO Group's procurement function conducted a comprehensive risk assessment of its global supply chain, evaluating exposure to climate-related disruption.
The analysis revealed high risks from heatwaves, drought and water scarcity, particularly affecting the geographical locations of its manufacturing facilities.
These climate vulnerabilities present significant challenges for procurement teams who must balance cost efficiency with supply chain security. The assessment examined both immediate risks and long-term threats that could impact material availability and production continuity.
This assessment could inform future procurement strategies, including supplier diversification, resilience planning and potential reshoring decisions to mitigate climate-related supply chain vulnerabilities.
The procurement function is now developing contingency plans that include identifying alternative suppliers in lower-risk regions and establishing buffer stock strategies for critical materials to ensure business continuity during climate-related disruptions.
Circular procurement priorities
The LEGO Group's procurement teams are embedding circularity principles into purchasing decisions for both products and packaging materials.
The company aims to source packaging made from renewable materials while reducing single-use plastic and ensuring recyclability.
A key procurement achievement in 2025 was the introduction of paper packs inside LEGO boxes, made from at least 95% paper with a thin plastic coating for sealing and brick protection during transportation.
These bags have been verified as technically recyclable in the company's European Union, US and Canadian markets.
According to the annual results, more than 95% of The LEGO Group's sold packaging by weight is now made from paper, cardboard and other paper-based materials, demonstrating the impact of strategic sourcing decisions on sustainability outcomes.
Niels adds: "We are deeply committed to having a positive impact on the world and the communities we are part of. We do this by aiming to reduce our environmental footprint and improving access to play for kids who need it most, and we will continue to invest significantly to deliver on that ambition."
Beyond environmental procurement, The LEGO Group's purchasing decisions support social responsibility programmes that have impacted 11.7 million children across 27 countries in 2025, exceeding the target of 10.2 million.
One example includes procuring materials for a LEGO MRI scanner used in hospitals, which has benefited more than one million children globally, with 96% of healthcare professionals reporting reduced patient anxiety.
The company's 2025 performance demonstrates how procurement functions can drive both commercial success and sustainability transformation when sourcing strategies align with broader organisational objectives.
