Los multimillonarios de Lego invertirán "fuerte" en tecnología para reciclar plástico

Major Danish Lego family fund plans to significantly boost investments in plastic recycling technologies as Europe prepares for stricter recycling standards. The climate unit within Kirkbi aims to double its $1.6 billion portfolio of environmentally-focused investments over the next five years. Plastic recycling is seen as a key area for strong investment, according to Anupam Bhargava, the head of Kirkbi Climate.

The EU has set 2030 as the deadline for all packaging to be recyclable, part of a broader set of measures to cut carbon emissions and waste in the EU. The new rules will boost confidence among investors like Kirkbi, who see a maturing market, Bhargava said. Currently, each person generates about 35 kilograms (77 pounds) of plastic packaging waste annually, most of which comes from imported fossil fuels, according to EU estimates.

However, the recycling sector has been hampered by low investment and persistent cheap oil prices that make virgin plastic cheaper than recycled. Sir Bhargava noted that there is no single solution to invest in a tech company and achieve remarkable results because the recycling sector operates in a highly fragmented and inefficient value chain.

However, with the deadlines for the packaging regulations approaching, the industry needs to start preparing now. Kirkbi, the parent company of Lego, managed assets worth 189 billion Swedish kronor (about 25 billion euros) at the end of the year. Kirkbi Climate, which invests in energy transition and land use, manages 10 billion Swedish kronor and plans to allocate future investments roughly equally between energy and recycling, with a focus on certain EU countries and the plastics sector, Bhargava said.

After over a decade of investing in climate projects, Kirkbi is now taking a more active approach, seeking to acquire stakes in sufficiently large companies to have real influence on their boards, Bhargava explained. This follows the decision made last year to create an independent unit for climate investments. The family's long-standing goal is that if we're going to contribute to solving climate change on a large scale, we need to be entrepreneurs, Bhargava said. This means investing in a very different way.