Mattel Wants Consumers To Send Back Their Toys When They’re Done With Them

Words by Romana Hai

Mattel Wants Consumers To Send Back Their Toys When They're Done With Them
Mattel Wants Consumers To Send Back Their Toys When They're Done With Them

Toy manufacturing company, Mattel, wants consumers to recycle their toys through a newly launched pilot program dubbed “Mattel PlayBack.”

The program aims to recover and reuse materials from old Mattel toys for future Mattel products. The launch of the program is part of the company’s goal to achieve 100 percent recycled, recyclable or bio-based plastic materials across all products and packaging by 2030.

“Mattel toys are made to last and be passed on from generation to generation,” said Richard Dickson, President and Chief Operating Officer, Mattel.

“A key part of our product design process is a relentless focus on innovation, and finding sustainable solutions is one significant way we are innovating. Our Mattel PlayBack program is a great example of this, enabling us to turn materials from toys that have lived their useful life into recycled materials for new products.”   

To participate in the Mattel PlayBack program, consumers can visit their website to print out a free shipping label to mail back their toys to the toy manufacturing company.

All toys collected through the program will be sorted and separated by material type and then processed and recycled. Any materials that cannot be repurposed will be downcycled or converted from waste to energy.

In the initial phases of the program, the company will accept Barbie, Matchbox and MEGA toys for recycling. Other brands are expected to be added in the future. 

“At Mattel, we are committed to managing the environmental impact of our products,” said Pamela Gill-Alabaster, Global Head of Sustainability, Mattel.

“The Mattel PlayBack program 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 toys. It is one important step we’re taking to address the growing global waste challenge.”  

The news follows Mattel’s launch of bio-plastic-based toys across brands such as Fisher-Price, Rock-a-Stack and Fisher-Price Baby’s First Blocksmade as well as the first fully recyclable UNO deck. The company also launched Drive Toward a Better Future last month – a product roadmap that aims to make all Matchbox die-cast cars, playsets and packaging 100 percent recycled, recyclable or made of bio-based plastic materials by 2030.

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