By Plasteurope.com staff

Denmark-based Lego (Billund; www.lego.com) has announced the commencement of operations at its new distribution centre in Tessenderlo, Belgium. The company said work began at the site at the beginning of the month, and the 27,000 m² facility can accommodate up to 44,000 pallets. Swiss logistics firm Kühne+Nagel runs the centre, according to the toymaker.

Lego said the Tessenderlo site, located around 100 km from Brussels, is to supply customers in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, the UK, Ireland, and northern France with products from factories in Nyíregyháza, Hungary, and Kladno, Czech Republic. The change is expected to shorten delivery times by an average of up to two working days. Furthermore, the new addition is anticipated to help reduce group CO₂ output, with Lego seeking to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 37% by 2037.

Lego said it expects the new building to serve as a significant milestone for increasing its delivery flexibility. The distribution centre is the company’s second major logistics hub in Europe alongside its Czech site in Jirny. The group’s other major investments include the construction of plants in Vietnam and the US, and the expansion of production facilities in Nyíregyháza; Billund, Denmark; Jiaxing, Zhejiang, China; and Monterrey, Mexico.

— Translated by Eric Culp