Don’t toss your kid’s old toys—Mattel wants to recycle them instead

Every house has at least one (or, if you’re me, half a dozen at least): the basket of old Barbies, Matchbox cars and random blocks your kids barely play with but you keep them around, just in case. Maybe your kids are aging out of them, maybe they’re missing an arm or a wheel—whatever the case may be, The Basket Of Random Toys With Missing Pieces is a staple in every parent’s home. If you’re ready to toss them because you’re sure even a thrift store won’t want them, hang tight. Mattel wants to take them off your hands, and for a very good reason.

The renowned toy company is launching a program called “Mattel PlayBack,” and its sole purpose is to recover and reuse materials from old toys to make new Mattel products.

This is a pretty huge deal when it comes to sustainability, and the company seems pretty committed to keeping plastic out of landfills. In 2019, Mattel announced that they were committing to using 100% recycled, recyclable or bio-based plastic materials across the board for all their products and product packaging by 2030.

“Don’t let their lessons be lost — give them back,” the company says in its video announcement.

Mattel Playback – The Toy Takeback Program

www.youtube.com

“Mattel toys are made to last and be passed on from generation to generation,” Richard Dickson, Mattel president and COO, said in a statement. “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.”

To start off the toy take-back, Mattel is kicking things off with three of their biggest brands: Barbie, Matchbox and MEGA toys. Other brands plan to be added in the future, but for now we can all gather up the dozens of Barbies with missing arms and irreparable hair cuts, wheel-less cars, and MEGA blocks that our toddlers loved to chew as much as build and send them all back to where they came from.

If you’re interested in participating, you can visit Mattel’s website to print a free shipping label to pack and mail your toys to them. From there, they’ll sort and separate the toys by material type to be processed and recycled.

We can literally de-clutter and help the environment—win-win!