Toy maker Lego Group announced Wednesday it plans to invest more than $1 billion to build a new factory in Virginia that will be entirely carbon-neutral.
In a statement, Denmark-based Lego said construction on the 1.7 million-square-foot facility in Virginia’s Chesterfield County, near Richmond, will begin in the fall, with toy production expected to begin in the second half of 2025. Lego said the plant will employ more than 1,700 workers to mold, process and pack its plastic bricks.
The company said 100% of the factory’s energy needs will be matched by an onsite solar park, and that the plant will be designed to minimize energy consumption.
“The location in Virginia allows us to build a solar park which supports our sustainability ambitions and provides easy links to country-wide transportation networks,” Lego Chief Executive Niels B. Christiansen said in a statement.
Lego added that the location of the factory will help shorten transportation of its products to some of its biggest markets, and allow the company “to rapidly respond to changing consumer demand and [help] manage our carbon footprint.”
The Virginia site will be Lego’s second factory in the Americas, in addition to one in Monterrey, Mexico, and its seventh around the globe.