In 2012, LEGO made a commitment to make all of their bricks out of sustainable materials by 2030, just in time for the company's 100th anniversary. As Tim Guy Brooks, LEGO's head of environmental responsibility said, "We can't say we inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow if we're ruining the planet." The company has been willing to invest and experiment, but a solution continues to elude them. Corn-based bricks were too soft and wheat-based ones didn't look right. Bricks made from other materials proved too hard to pull apart or lost their grip, known as "clutch power" in the LEGO community. Partnerships with companies across industries have failed to generate viable options, and all the while LEGO has been dogged by criticism from environmental groups like Greenpeace and advocates for food production. Will LEGO achieve their sustainability objectives? In this week's Dial P for Procurement, Kelly Barner traces LEGO's push towards plant-based materials as a way of studying the challenges of finding a way even when there is a will: How their current sustainability efforts serve as a continuation of the history and overall philosophy of the company What LEGO has achieved to date, and what options have been eliminated as viable possibilities along the way The criticism and negative publicity the company has received, and how it has increased their already elevated sense of urgency Links: Kelly Barner on LinkedIn Dial P for Procurement on AOP Subscribe to This Week in Procurement

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