fisher-price joins mattel's toy takeback program to reduce plastic waste

play it back with mattel

American toy manufacturer Mattel has added Fisher-Price to its recycling program called ‘PlayBack’. First launched in 2021, the initiative enables families to send back Mattel toys for free once their kids have finished playing with them. It’s all part of the company’s goal to achieve 100% recycled, recyclable, or bio-based plastic materials in its products and packaging by 2030.

‘At Fisher-Price, we design toys to be loved, cherished and passed on from one generation to the next. The Mattel PlayBack program, aimed at repurposing these materials into new products and help the environment, now provides parents and caregivers the opportunity to give these beloved Fisher-Price toys a new lease on life,’ says Chuck Scothon, SVP and GM of Fisher-Price Infant and Preschool.

images courtesy of Mattel

To get started, visit the PlayBack website, print a free shipping label, package your used toys and send them back to Mattel. The collected toys will be sorted and separated by material type before being responsibly processed and recycled. For materials that cannot be repurposed as recycled content into new toys, Mattel will either downcycle those materials into other plastic products or convert them from waste to energy.

‘The Mattel PlayBack program has been eagerly received by consumers and has provided tremendous learning specific to the durability and disassembly of our products, which will aid in the future design of products made for the circular economy,’ comments Pamela Gill-Alabaster, SVP Global Head of Sustainability and Social Impact at Mattel. ‘We are also exploring new technologies in plastic processing and recycling, with our longer-term goal to use materials collected through Mattel PlayBack in future toy production.’

send your toys back to Mattel for free

the collected toys are sorted and separated by material type before being responsibly processed and recycled

Mattel wants to achieve 100% recycled, recyclable, or bio-based plastic materials in its products and packaging by 2030

project info:

company: Mattel