TOY CIRCULARITY
BEYOND THE TOY BOX
Can a toy live more than one life? In the face of mounting plastic waste, the toy industry is getting serious about circularity. By rethinking design, recycling, and repair, the sector is piecing together a future where play doesn’t have to cost the Earth.
C
ircularity is a term that is batted around rather a lot in the sustainability sphere and represents something of an ultimate utopia where our whole value chain as we know it, from manufacture to consumer to end-of-life is reimagined into an entirely different model. As seismic and futuristic as that sounds, the reality is that it is a step-by-step process, a lot of which boils down to thinking about, designing, and providing for the end-of-life of a product. Because when a toy reaches its end-of-life, there needs to be an option available, beside a one-way trip to a landfill. Epitomising this way of thinking, is of course the Wastebuster Recycle to Read programme. Developed in partnership with Products of Change, the programme educates consumers about toy recycling and creates a new infrastructure for recycling plastic toys, allowing consumers to collect points to win and donate books to local nurseries and primary schools. The Recycle to Read initiative aims to establish a circular solution for toys that have reached the end of their useful life or toys and that are not fit for donation, with the objective of reducing the number of toys sent to landfill or incineration. Supported by POC Members, Tesco and Mattel, among others, the programme looks to open the avenue for hard plastic toy recycling in the UK – something for which the infrastructure is currently sorely lacking – and by doing so
undertake essential research into toy circularity. Mattel’s own PlayBack toy takeback programme lent itself perfectly to the support of the Recycle 2 Read initiative, Mignon Senuta, senior director, global sustainability and social impact at Mattel, explained: “Mattel is happy to be the ambassador sponsor of Wastebuster’s Recycle to Read programme this year. Working with the Wastebuster campaign was a natural fit, as the programme is designed to help reduce waste, while shaping and educating the next generation through play on sustainability and product stewardship.” COMPLETING THE LOOP As Recycle to Read works to collect plastic toys for recycling, the Ethical Supply Chain Program (ESCP) is taking up this mantle and helping to close the loop so that recycled plastic can be readily made back into toys. Material usage for toys is strictly controlled for health and safety reasons; they must be able to stand up to gnawing toddler mouths and prolonged contact with children. Alongside Mattel, the LEGO Group, Crayola, and Target, the ESCP is developing a standardised process, known as the Recycled Materials Chemical Safety Assessment (RCSA).
ABOVE: Gibsons has been working hard to eliminate plastic from its games and puzzles.
LEFT: The Recycle to Read programme collects hard plastic toys for recycling.
LEFT: ESCP is exploring safety assessments for using recycled plastic in toys.
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