The general trend in retail packaging is away from plastic blister packs and single-use plastic boxes and towards beautiful, well-designed and sustainable custom cardboard boxes, one driven not only by regulators but also companies and manufacturers themselves.

Cardboard is excellent value for money, is robust, recyclable and sustainable. Alongside metal cans, it is amongst the easiest materials to reuse and create a circular loop, but thanks to modern design and construction techniques, it can also last a long time whilst remaining presentable.

However, one of the most interesting drives when it comes to companies switching to cardboard is found in the toy industry, with LEGO taking particularly large strides to change much of its packaging from plastic tubs to cardboard boxes filled with paper bags.

This is not a new initiative, but according to a recent LEGO Group press release, 93 per cent of their packaging by weight is made using paper-based materials. But why is this such a priority?

There are many reasons, but according to LEGO itself, the biggest driver has been the children at the heart of their success.

Do Children Care About Sustainability?

According to data published by the LEGO Play Well Report, over four-fifths of children (81 per cent) said they were interested in recycling, with exactly four-fifths (80 per cent) interested in reducing waste more broadly.

This has been a driving force in the push towards removing the use of single-use plastics in LEGO products, as well as the parents of children who want to more easily clear household waste through the use of recyclable materials, something vital around Christmas.

Whilst the ambitious goal to produce LEGO bricks from sustainable plastic materials is still over half a decade away, LEGO has pushed forward to try and give what their most important customers want, and it is slowly proving influential.

How Has LEGO’s Packaging Changed?

When LEGO bricks were first launched in 1953, they were sold in cardboard boxes, with the square and rectangular bricks easily and snugly fitting in cardboard slipcases.

However, as LEGO became much larger and the sets became increasingly elaborate, the pre-pack bag became a vital development to separate large and small pieces, as well as ensure that a set has every brick it needs to be completed.

As well as this, whilst most sets were sold in cardboard boxes, LEGO also started selling plastic tubs of LEGO, adding additional plastic components to a toy system that was itself primarily made of plastic.

There was also the packaging for the LEGO Technic series Bionicle, which were packaged in plastic tubes and jars of various shapes and designs before gradually moving towards cardboard tubes with plastic lids, before the range was discontinued.

Finally, when some of the bespoke product services, such as pick-a-brick and custom minifigures, were initially sold in plastic tubs, this has been replaced with a range of versatile, standardised cardboard boxes.

Why Did Lego Move Towards Plastic Packaging In The First Place?

In many respects, the move away from a sustainable solution was a matter of following the market; cardboard boxes from the 1950s up until the late 1990s had a tendency to fall apart due to the thin card they used and a relatively simplistic assembly process.

Because of this, parents and children alike saw hard, robust packaging as a positive. You could buy a toy and then use its plastic tub or box to store it once playtime was over, which had the perception of added value.

As well as this, plastic allowed for more versatility with colours, shapes and designs, and whilst the latter two elements would eventually be aided by more elaborate computer-aided cutting processes that allow for unique cardboard packaging, this was not as readily available in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Bionicle, in particular, treated its boxes as part of the playset and integrated them into the lore of the particular set, so the canisters were as much a part of the multimedia franchise as the figures themselves.

Finally, the rise of “blind bag” style toys necessitated, to some degree, additional plastic components.

Why Are Toy Companies Switching To Cardboard?

Sustainability has never not been important, but in recent years, it has become a vital sales element as well, as both children and adult customers alike prioritise ethics in their purchasing decisions.

Cardboard is hard-wearing, endlessly customisable and can survive long shipping journeys whilst also being recyclable and biodegradable.

This makes it an ideal early approach when launching more substantial sustainability initiatives, as the technology and materials are proven, whilst experimenting more on how much further you can go.