Within Sustainability
Can a Greener Brick Look Exactly the Same?
Mass balance lets LEGO buy more renewable feedstocks, but it also creates a trust problem because greener content may not be visible in any one brick.
On this page
- How mass balance works in plain terms
- Why it helps LEGO move faster
- Why invisible progress can be hard to explain
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Introduction
LEGO’s move towards lower-carbon materials increasingly depends on something most consumers never see: mass balance accounting. Instead of making visibly different “green bricks”, the company is buying resin linked to renewable and recycled feedstocks that are mixed into existing industrial plastic systems. The result is deliberately invisible. A brick made through this system looks, feels and performs exactly like a conventional LEGO brick. That helps LEGO preserve quality and compatibility, but it also creates a communication problem. If the sustainability improvement cannot be seen in any individual brick, consumers must trust certification systems, accounting rules and supplier claims rather than physical evidence. This tension sits at the centre of LEGO’s sustainability strategy and reveals an important limit to the company’s antifragility: adapting to environmental pressure increasingly depends on governance and credibility, not just product innovation. [LEGO]lego.comMass balanceLEGOMass balance - SustainabilityThe mass balance approach involves producing materials that are a mix of both virgin fossil and renewabl… [LEGO]lego.comSustainable materialsOur suppliers mix virgin fossil sources with certified…Read more…
Can a Greener Brick Look Exactly the Same?
The short answer is yes. In fact, that is the point.
For decades, LEGO has relied heavily on acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), a petroleum-based plastic valued for its precision, durability and consistent clutch power. After encountering difficulties with attempts to replace core brick materials outright, including the abandoned recycled PET bottle initiative, LEGO shifted towards a strategy that changes feedstocks rather than finished products. [AP News]apnews.comAfter two years of testing, they found that PET did not reduce carbon emissions as hoped. The company, which historically uses oil-based… [The Guardian]theguardian.comlego plans to make half the plastic in bricks from renewable materials by 2026Currently, 22% of the materials in Lego bricks are derived from non-fossil sources. The company is testing over 600 alternative materials…
Under the mass balance model, renewable oils, waste fats, recycled feedstocks and conventional fossil inputs enter the same industrial production system. The resulting plastic is chemically identical regardless of which feedstock contributed to a particular batch. Instead of physically separating sustainable and fossil-derived molecules throughout production, companies track the proportion of certified inputs through audited accounting systems. ISCC System [Plastics Europe]plasticseurope.orgPlastics EuropeChemical Recycling and Mass Balance explainedMass balance enables the use of chemically recycled feedstocks in existing in…
This means a LEGO brick produced under a mass balance system is not necessarily made from a measurable percentage of renewable material in that specific piece. Rather, LEGO can claim that a corresponding amount of renewable or recycled feedstock was introduced into the wider production chain on its behalf. The sustainability characteristic is allocated through certification rather than visible through the product itself. [ISCC System]iscc-system.orgmass balance explainedISCC SystemMass Balance Explained15 May 2024 — Mass balance provides manufacturers with a methodology to track the certified materials as… [ISCC System]iscc-system.orgmass balance and attribution understanding the differenceISCC SystemMass Balance and Attribution in Chemical Recycling13 Feb 2026 — Mass balance requires clear guardrails for how the sustainabil…
How Mass Balance Works in Plain Terms
A useful analogy is renewable electricity.
When a household buys renewable electricity, the electrons reaching the home are not physically separated from those generated by fossil fuel plants. Instead, renewable generation is added somewhere in the grid and certified through accounting systems. Mass balance applies a similar logic to plastics. [Fashion for Good]fashionforgood.commass balance attributionFashion for GoodMass Balance Attribution: Never heard of it?30 Mar 2026 — Mass balance works the same way: renewable and fossil-based fee…
The process generally works in three steps:
- Renewable or recycled feedstocks such as used cooking oil enter a chemical production system.
- These inputs are mixed with conventional fossil feedstocks during processing.
- Audited certification schemes allocate a corresponding share of renewable content to specific resin purchases.
LEGO’s suppliers use certification systems such as ISCC PLUS, a widely used framework designed to verify sustainable feedstocks and trace them through complex industrial supply chains. Because the final plastic molecules are indistinguishable, certification focuses on bookkeeping, chain-of-custody controls and external audits rather than physical separation. ISCC System [Control Union India]india.controlunion.comControl Union IndiaISCC PLUS Certification for Plastics | Mass Balance Guide…23 Apr 2026 — ISCC PLUS helps plastic manufacturers verif…
This approach explains why LEGO can simultaneously say that more of its materials come from renewable or recycled sources while continuing to manufacture bricks that behave exactly like earlier versions. The chemistry remains essentially the same; the origin of the carbon changes. [LEGO]lego.comMass balanceLEGOMass balance - SustainabilityIn 2025, 60% of all resin we purchased was certified according to mass balance principles, which alongsi…
Why It Helps LEGO Move Faster
Mass balance solves several practical problems that have repeatedly challenged LEGO’s sustainability ambitions.
It avoids redesigning the brick system
The most obvious advantage is that LEGO does not need to reinvent the physical brick. Previous efforts to find entirely new materials revealed how difficult it is to preserve strength, colour consistency, safety and manufacturing precision. Mass balance allows the company to reduce fossil feedstocks while keeping the existing material performance that consumers expect. [AP News]apnews.comAfter two years of testing, they found that PET did not reduce carbon emissions as hoped. The company, which historically uses oil-based… [The Guardian]theguardian.comlego plans to make half the plastic in bricks from renewable materials by 2026Currently, 22% of the materials in Lego bricks are derived from non-fossil sources. The company is testing over 600 alternative materials…
It uses existing industrial infrastructure
Chemical plants that produce plastic resin were built around large-scale mixed-feedstock systems. Creating completely separate production streams for renewable materials would be expensive and slow. Mass balance lets suppliers introduce renewable feedstocks into existing infrastructure rather than waiting for an entirely new industrial base to emerge. [Plastics Europe]plasticseurope.orgPlastics EuropeChemical Recycling and Mass Balance explainedMass balance enables the use of chemically recycled feedstocks in existing in…
For LEGO, this dramatically increases the scale at which sustainability efforts can operate. Instead of waiting for a perfect replacement material, the company can begin reducing fossil input immediately through procurement decisions. [Reuters]reuters.comThe company has tested over 600 materials to find a suitable alternative but has seen limited success. Lego aims to reduce its oil-based…
It creates demand before supply becomes cheap
A striking aspect of LEGO’s strategy is its willingness to pay substantially more for certified renewable resin. Company executives have acknowledged paying significantly higher prices than for conventional materials in order to encourage suppliers to expand production capacity. [Reuters]reuters.comThe company has tested over 600 materials to find a suitable alternative but has seen limited success. Lego aims to reduce its oil-based… [The Guardian]theguardian.comlego plans to make half the plastic in bricks from renewable materials by 2026Currently, 22% of the materials in Lego bricks are derived from non-fossil sources. The company is testing over 600 alternative materials…
From an antifragility perspective, this is less a technological innovation than a market-shaping intervention. LEGO is attempting to strengthen future supply networks by absorbing costs today. Its private ownership structure and strong profitability make that possible in ways that might be harder for more financially constrained competitors. [Reuters]reuters.comThe company has tested over 600 materials to find a suitable alternative but has seen limited success. Lego aims to reduce its oil-based…
The Numbers Show Rapid Adoption
The mass balance approach has moved from a niche experiment to a central part of LEGO’s sustainability programme.
According to LEGO and reporting on its sustainability disclosures, certified mass balance resin represented 18% of resin purchases in 2023. During the first half of 2024, that figure rose to 30%, translating into an estimated average of 22% renewable and recycled material content. By 2024, LEGO reported that 47% of purchased resin was certified under mass balance principles, and later disclosures indicated further expansion beyond the halfway mark. LEGO [Trellis]trellis.netTrellisLego's sustainability shift draws questions, doubts10 Sept 2024 — In 2023 Lego bought 18 percent certified mass balance resin, or… [3productsofchange.com]productsofchange.comThe LEGO Group grows revenue and sustainable materials…28 Aug 2024 — In fact, in the first half of 2024, 30% of all resin purchased by…
These figures matter because they show where LEGO’s sustainability progress is currently coming from. Public discussion often focuses on breakthrough materials or futuristic bioplastics. In practice, a significant share of LEGO’s measurable progress has come from changing feedstock sourcing through certification systems rather than replacing the brick’s core chemistry. [LEGO]lego.comLEGO Group Sustainability Statement 2024Sustainability Statement11 Mar 2025 — This Sustainability Statement is part of the management review of LEGO A/S' Annual Report 2024 and… [LEGO]lego.comick sets and find the perfect gift for your kid…
Why Invisible Progress Can Be Hard to Explain
The strength of mass balance is also its greatest communications weakness. [iscc-system.org]iscc-system.orgmass balance explainedISCC SystemMass Balance Explained15 May 2024 — Mass balance provides manufacturers with a methodology to track the certified materials as…
Consumers generally understand sustainability through visible cues. A recycled paper package looks different. A reusable bottle can be held in the hand. A mass balance brick offers no equivalent signal. [ISCC System]iscc-system.orgmass balance explainedISCC SystemMass Balance Explained15 May 2024 — Mass balance provides manufacturers with a methodology to track the certified materials as…
A child opening a LEGO set cannot tell whether any specific brick contains renewable feedstock. In some cases, a particular element may contain none at all even though the broader purchasing system supports renewable inputs elsewhere in the supply chain. Critics argue that this creates a gap between what consumers imagine they are buying and what mass balance certification actually guarantees. [Brick Fanatics]brickfanatics.comlegos sustainability solution under fireBrick FanaticsLEGO's latest sustainability solution comes under fire from…10 Sept 2024 — In essence: the amount of renewable plastic i…
This is not necessarily evidence of deception. The accounting rules are generally disclosed, and certification systems are designed precisely because physical separation is often impractical. The challenge is that the claim depends on understanding an abstract governance mechanism rather than observing a physical attribute. Trust shifts from the product to the certification architecture behind the product. [ISCC System]iscc-system.orgmass balance and attribution understanding the differenceISCC SystemMass Balance and Attribution in Chemical Recycling13 Feb 2026 — Mass balance requires clear guardrails for how the sustainabil… [ISCC System]iscc-system.orgmass balance and attribution understanding the differenceISCC SystemMass Balance and Attribution in Chemical Recycling13 Feb 2026 — Mass balance requires clear guardrails for how the sustainabil…
The Governance Challenge Behind the Brick
Because consumers cannot verify the claim directly, governance becomes central.
The credibility of mass balance depends on several questions: [iscc-system.org]iscc-system.orgmass balance explainedISCC SystemMass Balance Explained15 May 2024 — Mass balance provides manufacturers with a methodology to track the certified materials as…
- Are renewable inputs genuinely entering the system?
- Are allocations being counted accurately?
- Are certification audits independent and rigorous?
- Are marketing claims proportional to what the accounting system actually proves?
These questions matter because sustainability controversies increasingly revolve around attribution rather than chemistry. The debate is often not whether renewable feedstocks exist, but whether companies can legitimately connect those feedstocks to particular products. ISCC System [Control Union India]india.controlunion.comControl Union IndiaISCC PLUS Certification for Plastics | Mass Balance Guide…23 Apr 2026 — ISCC PLUS helps plastic manufacturers verif…
For LEGO, this creates a different type of vulnerability than product design failures. If a new set disappoints, the company can redesign it. If consumers lose confidence in sustainability claims, the problem becomes reputational and institutional. The resilience of the strategy depends on maintaining trust in certification systems that most buyers will never investigate themselves. [Brick Fanatics]brickfanatics.comlegos sustainability solution under fireBrick FanaticsLEGO's latest sustainability solution comes under fire from…10 Sept 2024 — In essence: the amount of renewable plastic i…
What Mass Balance Reveals About LEGO’s Antifragility Limit
Mass balance demonstrates both the adaptability and the constraints of LEGO’s sustainability response.
The company has shown considerable flexibility. After struggling to identify a perfect replacement for traditional plastics, it adopted a supply-chain mechanism that can deliver measurable reductions in fossil feedstocks without compromising brick performance. It has used purchasing power, supplier relationships and long-term investment capacity to accelerate adoption. [Reuters]reuters.comThe company has tested over 600 materials to find a suitable alternative but has seen limited success. Lego aims to reduce its oil-based… [Plastics Today]plasticstoday.comPlastics TodayLego Set to Pay Up to 70% More for Certified Renewable…28 Aug 2024 — Thirty percent of all resin purchased by Lego in th…
Yet the strategy also exposes a limit. LEGO cannot solve sustainability purely through the creative experimentation that helped it recover from earlier business crises. The challenge is no longer mainly about inventing new products. It is about managing industrial systems, certification regimes and public trust.
A greener LEGO brick increasingly looks exactly like the old one. That may be the most practical route available today, but it means the company’s environmental progress depends on something less tangible than a redesigned toy: confidence in the governance structures that sit behind the plastic. [LEGO]lego.comSustainable materialsSustainability - LEGO.comSince 2024, over 900 of our transparent elements, like Lightsabers™, windscreens and windows, now contain 20% of… [ISCC System]iscc-system.orgmass balance and attribution understanding the differenceISCC SystemMass Balance and Attribution in Chemical Recycling13 Feb 2026 — Mass balance requires clear guardrails for how the sustainabil…
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Endnotes
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Source: lego.com
Title: Mass balance
Link: https://www.lego.com/en-us/sustainability/mass-balanceSource snippet
LEGOMass balance - SustainabilityThe mass balance approach involves producing materials that are a mix of both virgin fossil and renewabl...
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Source: lego.com
Title: Sustainable materials
Link: https://www.lego.com/en-gb/sustainability/sustainable-materialsSource snippet
Our suppliers mix virgin fossil sources with certified...Read more...
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Source: iscc-system.org
Title: mass balance explained
Link: https://iscc-system.org/mass-balance-explained/Source snippet
ISCC SystemMass Balance Explained15 May 2024 — Mass balance provides manufacturers with a methodology to track the certified materials as...
Published: May 2024
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Source: reuters.com
Link: https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/lego-replace-oil-its-bricks-with-pricier-renewable-plastic-2024-08-28/Source snippet
The company has tested over 600 materials to find a suitable alternative but has seen limited success. Lego aims to reduce its oil-based...
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Source: iscc-system.org
Title: mass balance and attribution understanding the difference
Link: https://iscc-system.org/mass-balance-and-attribution-understanding-the-difference/Source snippet
ISCC SystemMass Balance and Attribution in Chemical Recycling13 Feb 2026 — Mass balance requires clear guardrails for how the sustainabil...
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Source: trellis.net
Link: https://trellis.net/article/legos-sustainability-shift-draws-questions-doubts/Source snippet
TrellisLego's sustainability shift draws questions, doubts10 Sept 2024 — In 2023 Lego bought 18 percent certified mass balance resin, or...
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Source: productsofchange.com
Link: https://www.productsofchange.com/the-lego-group-grows-revenue-and-sustainable-materials-use-in-2024-first-half-report/Source snippet
The LEGO Group grows revenue and sustainable materials...28 Aug 2024 — In fact, in the first half of 2024, 30% of all resin purchased by...
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Source: lego.com
Title: Mass balance
Link: https://www.lego.com/en-gb/sustainability/mass-balanceSource snippet
LEGOMass balance - SustainabilityIn 2025, 60% of all resin we purchased was certified according to mass balance principles, which alongsi...
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Source: lego.com
Title: LEGO Group Sustainability Statement 2024
Link: https://www.lego.com/cdn/cs/aboutus/assets/blt2a759726033d5b67/LEGO_Group_Sustainability_Statement_2024.pdfSource snippet
Sustainability Statement11 Mar 2025 — This Sustainability Statement is part of the management review of LEGO A/S' Annual Report 2024 and...
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Source: lego.com
Link: https://www.lego.com/en-gbSource snippet
ick sets and find the perfect gift for your kid...
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Source: lego.com
Title: Sustainable materials
Link: https://www.lego.com/en-us/sustainability/sustainable-materialsSource snippet
Sustainability - LEGO.comSince 2024, over 900 of our transparent elements, like Lightsabers™, windscreens and windows, now contain 20% of...
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Source: lego.com
Title: 2025 Annual Report The LEGO Group
Link: [https://www.lego.com/cdn/cs/sustainability/assets/bltc43f38d930d0440a/2025Annual_Report-The_LEGO_Group.pdf](https://www.lego.com/cdn/cs/sustainability/assets/bltc43f38d930d0440a/2025_Annual_Report-_The_LEGO_Group.pdf)Source snippet
Annual Report... increased to 52 percent, growing from 33 percent in 2024 This was achieved due to large increases in purchases of certif...
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Source: apnews.com
Link: https://apnews.com/article/a523a39117eed52b57622b07d07d9fd6Source snippet
After two years of testing, they found that PET did not reduce carbon emissions as hoped. The company, which historically uses oil-based...
-
Source: theguardian.com
Title: lego plans to make half the plastic in bricks from renewable materials by 2026
Link: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/article/2024/aug/28/lego-plans-to-make-half-the-plastic-in-bricks-from-renewable-materials-by-2026Source snippet
Currently, 22% of the materials in Lego bricks are derived from non-fossil sources. The company is testing over 600 alternative materials...
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Source: plasticseurope.org
Link: https://plasticseurope.org/knowledge-hub/chemical-recycling-mass-balance-explained/Source snippet
Plastics EuropeChemical Recycling and Mass Balance explainedMass balance enables the use of chemically recycled feedstocks in existing in...
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Source: fashionforgood.com
Title: mass balance attribution
Link: https://www.fashionforgood.com/our_news/mass-balance-attribution/Source snippet
Fashion for GoodMass Balance Attribution: Never heard of it?30 Mar 2026 — Mass balance works the same way: renewable and fossil-based fee...
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Source: india.controlunion.com
Link: https://india.controlunion.com/insight/is-your-plastic-business-ready-for-iscc-plus-certification-heres-everything-you-need-to-know-in-2026/Source snippet
Control Union IndiaISCC PLUS Certification for Plastics | Mass Balance Guide...23 Apr 2026 — ISCC PLUS helps plastic manufacturers verif...
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Source: plasticstoday.com
Link: https://www.plasticstoday.com/sustainability/lego-set-to-pay-up-to-70-more-for-certified-renewable-resinSource snippet
Plastics TodayLego Set to Pay Up to 70% More for Certified Renewable...28 Aug 2024 — Thirty percent of all resin purchased by Lego in th...
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Source: brickfanatics.com
Title: legos sustainability solution under fire
Link: https://www.brickfanatics.com/legos-sustainability-solution-under-fireSource snippet
Brick FanaticsLEGO's latest sustainability solution comes under fire from...10 Sept 2024 — In essence: the amount of renewable plastic i...
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Source: linkedin.com
Link: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/lego-group_sustainability-climateaction-circulareconomy-activity-7442930495417389056-2K0GSource snippet
rack material strategy (physical...Read more...
Additional References
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Source: linkedin.com
Link: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/organicarchitect_lego-surpasses-50-renewable-and-recycled-activity-7439324610275266560–SanSource snippet
Eric Corey Freed, AIA, LEED Fellow's PostNEWS: the LEGO Group revealed significant progress toward using sustainable materials, having re...
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Source: ft.com
Link: https://www.ft.com/content/08abd746-dba5-494b-8cd9-7f646bdff86dSource snippet
This initiative is financed by substantial profit increases, with the first-half revenues for 2024 rising 13% to DKr31bn ($4.6bn) and ope...
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Source: linkedin.com
Link: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/asuene_lego-surpasses-50-renewable-and-recycled-activity-7437685552566538240-t5dNSource snippet
LEGO Reaches 50% Renewable Materials in BricksThe progress has been largely enabled through the mass balance approach - where our supplie...
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Source: onestopesg.com
Link: https://onestopesg.com/esg-news/lego-reaches-50-renewable-and-recycled-content-in-bricks-advancing-circular-materials-strategy-1773156844641Source snippet
LEGO Reaches 50% Renewable and Recycled Content in...The LEGO Group reported that 52% of the materials used to produce its bricks in 202...
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Source: linkedin.com
Link: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/bryonylester_good-for-your-ears-and-for-the-planet-largely-activity-7455954434674798592-FglJSource snippet
LEGO reduces fossil fuel usage with mass balance approachToday, over half (52%) of the materials we buy for LEGO products now come from r...
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Source: linkedin.com
Link: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/timthorsman_its-fantastic-to-see-the-sustainable-approach-activity-7309652419389325312-yr3GSource snippet
Lego's sustainable approach to reduce plasticIt's fantastic to see the sustainable approach Lego is taking to reduce plastic and introduc...
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Source: linkedin.com
Link: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/scott-sherman-39166115_plasticsrecycling-circulareconomy-abs-activity-7438199721028087808-LeB3Source snippet
LEGO Boosts Renewable Materials to 52% with...LEGO just announced that 52% of the materials used to make their bricks are now renewable...
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Source: linkedin.com
Link: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sustainable-plastics-crain_the-danish-toy-maker-said-the-estimated-average-activity-7437487158954897408-afd1 -
Source: wired.com
Link: https://www.wired.com/story/lego-sustainable-bricksSource snippet
This month, the company introduced its first [sustainable bricks]({{ 'materials/' | relative_url }}) made from sugarcane-based polyethylene. Initially, only about 2% of Lego...
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Source: linkedin.com
Link: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ryan-shay_this-is-a-big-deal-in-2025-52-of-the-materials-activity-7443283158353006592-Xz52Source snippet
Ryan Shay's PostThis is a BIG deal: in 2025, 52% of the materials purchased to make LEGO® bricks came from renewable or recycled sources...
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