A survey of 2,000 British parents conducted by OnePoll last month has revealed that children received an average of 10 new toys each this Christmas – with 57% of parents worrying what would happen to their kids’ pre-loved toys after the festive period.
The study, which was commissioned by Mattel, also showed that 64% of parents wished they had more opportunities to recycle their kids’ toys. In addition, 75% planned to declutter their kids’ bedrooms during the festive break, while 50% have made a New Year’s Resolution to live more sustainably in 2022, with recycling the most popular option to achieve this.
To help parents achieve these goals, Mattel has launched #TaptoRebox with Mattel Playback: a toy takeback programme for Barbie, Matchbox and MEGA, that enables families to extend the life of their Mattel toys once they have finished playing with them.
The scheme is designed to recover and reuse materials from old Mattel toys to live a new life, and supports the company’s goal to achieve 100% recycled, recyclable or bio-based plastic materials across all products and packaging by 2030.
Mattel is also teaming up with professional declutterer and life coach Kate Ibbotson, founder of organisational service A Tidy Mind, to provide decluttering, donating, and recycling tips to UK parents. Katesaid: “If you didn’t manage to declutter before Christmas, now is a great time to start. Encourage children to donate toys to charity which they don’t use or have outgrown – or use the Mattel Playback scheme. The A Tidy Mind team donates and recycles items on behalf of clients and is determined that nothing should go into landfill if it can be avoided, so I’m a big supporter of the Mattel PlayBack programme. I’ve found that children are passionate about donating and recycling their toys, and it can develop their sense of empathy and social responsibility.â€
“At Mattel, we are committed to managing the environmental impact of our products. The Mattel PlayBack programme helps parents and caregivers ensure that materials stay in play, and out of landfills”
Pamela Gill-Alabaster, global head of sustainability at Mattel
Pamela Gill-Alabaster, global head of sustainability at Mattel, added: “At Mattel, we are committed to managing the environmental impact of our products. The Mattel PlayBack programme helps parents and caregivers ensure that materials stay in play, and out of landfills, with the aim to repurpose these materials as recycled content in new products. It is one important step we’re taking to address the growing global waste challenge.â€
To participate in the Mattel PlayBack programme, consumers can visit https://www2.mattel.com/en-gb/playback, print a free shipping label, and pack and mail their outgrown Mattel toys back to Mattel. The toys will be sorted and separated by material type and responsibly processed and recycled.
For materials that cannot be repurposed as recycled content, Mattel will either downcycle those materials or convert them from waste to energy. The programme currently accepts Barbie, Matchbox and MEGA toys, with more brands to be added in the future.
The #TapToRebox campaign will also be launched in other European countries to encourage parents to donate or recycle old toys, with influencers and parents signing up to the scheme in the UK, Germany and France.
