For Lego, net zero goals are anything but child’s play

Hit the Ground Running

Lego has been pushing its ambitious sustainability efforts for years . . . only to recently do an about-face (sort of) by telling us that it will continue manufacturing its blocks with petroleum-based ABS plastic. Even though the company promised to get rid of petroleum-based materials by 2030.

“Fast Company” senior editor Liz Stinson breaks down Lego’s recent announcement, which was more like “an excuse” or kind of an apology. In its efforts to redesign its bricks by using recycled plastic material, Lego decided that a) this kind of plastic just wasn’t going to be as good as the current ABS plastic used for its iconic bricks, and b) it would be more carbon intensive to have to retool its entire manufacturing process to make that work. So . . .it’s not exactly greenwashing, but it’s also not not greenwashing—and it highlights the interesting tension between what companies promise and what they can (or will?) realistically deliver.

And at the Innovation Festival last week, Yaz chatted with Jason Blum, founder and CEO of Blumhouse; David Gordon Green, director of The Exorcist: Believer; and Emma Tammi, director of Five Nights at Freddy’s. Tammi discussed adapting a popular video game into a successful movie, how to balance her artistic vision with fans’ expectations, and producing a movie that could stand on its own. Blum explained how The Exorcist was the ‘riskiest’ undertaking of his life . . . and how he begrudgingly gave up the perfect release date of Friday, the13th, to Taylor Swift since her Eras Tour film is coming out that day.

And speaking of movie production, we’ve also been following the WGA strike with its recent deal.