Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This page may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that I have recommended. There is no additional cost to you whatsoever.
Kids develop and alter rapidly, and so does their style in toys. One minute, they will’t get sufficient dolls. The subsequent minute, they will’t stand the concept of them, choosing toy automobiles as a substitute. As youngsters develop up, mother and father usually discover themselves with plenty of undesirable plastic toys to get rid of. And toy recycling choices are restricted.
Most toys are difficult to recycle, particularly in the event that they’re made up of tiny plastic components that may’t be simply separated. Municipal recycling packages don’t sometimes settle for plastic toys; recyclers usually settle for solely particular sizes and styles of plastics. The greatest hope is to discover a takeback program by the toy producer or retailer.
Mattel PlayBack
One of the most important toy makers on the earth, Mattel, Inc., just lately launched their very own toy takeback program. Called Mattel PlayBack, this system is designed to get better and reuse supplies derived from previous Mattel toys to make new merchandise. By collaborating in this system, households give new life to their undesirable Mattel model toys, diverting waste from the landfill.
Currently, Mattel PlayBack accepts Barbie, Matchbox, and MEGA toys within the United States and Canada. The firm says it hopes to develop it to France, Germany, and the United Kingdom within the close to future. They additionally plan so as to add toys from all of their different manufacturers, like Hot Wheels and Fisher-Price. For now, although, the corporate recommends donating these ineligible toys to different youngsters so long as they’re in comparatively good situation.
How To Participate
Similar to Lego’s Replay program, which they launched in 2019, Mattel’s PlayBack program offers free pay as you go transport labels to contributors after they fill out a short kind with contact info and the like. But not like the Lego program, which diverts waste from the landfill by cleansing the toy bricks and donating them to charities or faculties, Mattel guarantees to recycle or reuse the collected toys in their very own future merchandise.
Participating in Mattel’s takeback program is remarkably straightforward and the method received’t value you a dime. When it comes time to move in your baby’s used Barbie, Matchbox, or MEGA toys, return them to Mattel as a substitute of tossing them within the trash. Their situation doesn’t matter and also you received’t want to scrub or restore them earlier than mailing them in.
Head to the company’s website and fill out a short kind. Then, you’ll be supplied with a free, printable pay as you go transport label on your toys. Grab an previous cardboard field and bundle your toys (use newspapers for cushioning if wanted). If the toy has batteries, take away and recycle them individually.
After your bundle is prepped, slap on the transport label, drop it off on the put up workplace. You’ve efficiently diverted your plastic toys from a landfill the place they may have sat for lots of of years leaching dangerous chemical compounds into the soil and groundwater.
How Donated Toys Are Recycled
Once Mattel receives your previous toys within the mail, they are going to type and separate them by materials. The firm guarantees to recycle them and reuse their elements in new toy merchandise every time potential.
If it’s not potential to recycle or reuse them as a result of outdated or broken elements, the corporate will both downcycle the supplies into different plastic merchandise or convert them from waste to vitality.
While the corporate doesn’t delve into the recycling particulars, it’s doubtless the method will probably be just like that of different plastic recycling packages. This includes sorting, shredding, and melting the plastic so it may be common into one thing new.
Mattel’s Sustainability Goals
Mattel has a giant sustainability objective — going waste-free through the use of round design rules. First, they design their merchandise to final, to allow them to be handed on from child to child and simply repaired when wanted. And the corporate is aware concerning the supplies they use and says they intention to recycle and reuse them when potential, incorporating previous supplies into new toys.
Their present main objective is to depend on 100% recycled, recyclable, or bio-based plastic supplies of their merchandise and packaging by 2030. And by the tip of 2020, they’re on monitor to attain 95% recycled or Forest Stewardship Council-certified content within the paper and wooden fiber they use in packaging and merchandise.
Mattel launched a number of toys to help this objective in 2020. This contains two Fisher-Price child toys comprised of plastic derived from sugarcane, three MEGA Bloks units comprised of bio-based plastics, and the primary totally recyclable UNO deck with out cellophane packing supplies.
What About Other Toy Brands?
Mattel’s PlayBack toy recycling program accepts solely Mattel model toys. If you have got different toys to recycle, TerraCycle companions with completely different producers to supply free recycling for his or her merchandise. Currently, TerraCycle gives free recycling for all Hasbro model toys and video games, Spin Master toys and video games, L.O.L. Surprise merchandise and packaging, and VTech and LeapFrog digital toys and studying gadgets. TerraCycle additionally gives for-purchase recycling options for toys, action figures, and stuffed animals.
If your youngsters’ toys are nonetheless in working situation, please move them alongside to different youngsters who can take pleasure in them, as you are able to do with undesirable Lego bricks by the Lego Replay program.
