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Saudi Aramco Launches Olfa Animal Welfare

Olfa will focus on sheltering animals, providing veterinary care, reducing uncontrolled reproduction, and promoting community awareness of animal welfare - Aramco logo/File Photo
Olfa will focus on sheltering animals, providing veterinary care, reducing uncontrolled reproduction, and promoting community awareness of animal welfare - Aramco logo/File Photo
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Saudi Aramco Launches Olfa Animal Welfare

Olfa will focus on sheltering animals, providing veterinary care, reducing uncontrolled reproduction, and promoting community awareness of animal welfare - Aramco logo/File Photo
Olfa will focus on sheltering animals, providing veterinary care, reducing uncontrolled reproduction, and promoting community awareness of animal welfare - Aramco logo/File Photo

Saudi Aramco has launched Olfa Animal Welfare, a non-profit company dedicated to improving the lives of stray animals in Saudi Arabia, SPA reported.
According to an Aramco press release, Olfa will focus on sheltering animals, providing veterinary care, reducing uncontrolled reproduction, and promoting community awareness of animal welfare. The company aims to contribute to the Kingdom's efforts to treat animals with compassion and respect, in line with Islamic teachings.
In its initial partnership with the Eastern Region Municipality, Olfa will collaborate on various animal care initiatives. These include stabilizing animal populations, improving reporting systems for stray animals, establishing care and rehabilitation centers, and enhancing community education on responsible pet ownership.
The release said that Olfa will begin operations by launching mobile veterinary clinics in the Eastern Region to offer essential services such as examinations, vaccinations, and sterilization. The company plans to open its first animal shelter in Dammam in 2025.
Aramco Executive Vice President for Human Resources and Corporate Services Nabeel A. Al-Jama' emphasized the company's commitment to social responsibility and its desire to support community efforts in animal welfare in the Eastern Region and the Kingdom as a whole.

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Lego to Replace Oil in Its Bricks with Pricier Renewable Plastic 

A view shows the Lego logo in their headquarters in Billund, Denmark, April 25, 2024. (Reuters)
A view shows the Lego logo in their headquarters in Billund, Denmark, April 25, 2024. (Reuters)
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Lego to Replace Oil in Its Bricks with Pricier Renewable Plastic 

A view shows the Lego logo in their headquarters in Billund, Denmark, April 25, 2024. (Reuters)
A view shows the Lego logo in their headquarters in Billund, Denmark, April 25, 2024. (Reuters)

Toymaker Lego said on Wednesday it was on track to replace the fossil fuels used in making its signature bricks with more expensive renewable and recycled plastic by 2032 after signing deals with producers to secure long-term supply.

Lego, which sells billions of plastic bricks annually, has tested over 600 different materials to develop a new material that would completely replace its oil-based brick by 2030, but with limited success.

Now, Lego is aiming to gradually bring down the oil content in its bricks by paying up to 70% more for certified renewable resin, the raw plastic used to manufacture the bricks, in an attempt to encourage manufacturers to boost production.

"This means a significant increase in the cost of producing a Lego brick," CEO Niels Christiansen told Reuters.

He said the company is on track to ensure that more than half of the resin it needs in 2026 is certified according to the mass balance method, an auditable way to trace sustainable materials through the supply chain, up from 30% in the first half of 2024.

"With a family-owner committed to sustainability, it's a privilege that we can pay extra for the raw materials without having to charge customers extra," Christiansen said.

The move comes amid a surplus of cheap virgin plastic, driven by major oil companies' investments in petrochemicals. Plastics are projected to drive new oil demand in the next few decades.

Lego's suppliers are using bio-waste such as cooking oil or food industry waste fat, as well as recycled materials to replace virgin fossil fuels in plastic production.

The market for recycled or renewable plastic is still in its infancy, partly because most available feedstock is used for subsidized biodiesel, which is mixed into transportation fuels.

According to Neste, the world's largest producer of renewable feedstocks, fossil-based plastic is about half or a third of the price of sustainable options.

"We sense more activity and willingness to invest in this now than we did just a year ago," said Christiansen. He declined to say which suppliers or give details about price or volumes.

Rival toymaker Hasbro has started including plant-based or recycled materials in some toys, but without setting firm targets on plastic use. Mattel plans to use only recycled, recyclable or bio-based plastics in all products by 2030.

Around 90% of all plastic is made from virgin fossil fuels, according to lobby group PlasticsEurope.