Mattel Launches Toy Takeback Program 'Mattel PlayBack'

(RTTNews) - Toymaker Mattel Inc. has launched 'Mattel PlayBack', a toy takeback program, allowing families to return their Mattel toys once they are finished playing with them.

The new initiative is part of its goal to achieve 100 percent recycled, recyclable or bio-based plastic materials across all products and packaging by 2030.

At launch, the program will accept Barbie, Matchbox and MEGA toys for recycling with other brands to be added in the future. Mattel PlayBack will initially be available in the United States and Canada. The program will extend to France, Germany and the United Kingdom through third-party recycling partners.

The company has designed the program to recover and reuse materials from old Mattel toys for future Mattel products, and thus extend the life of those toys.

According to the company, 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.

To participate in the Mattel PlayBack program, consumers can visit Mattel.com/PlayBack, print a free shipping label, and pack and mail their outgrown Mattel toys back to Mattel. The company will sort and separate the toys collected by material type, and responsibly process and recycle.

For materials that cannot be repurposed as recycled content in new toys, Mattel PlayBack will either downcycle those materials or convert them from waste to energy.

The company last month announced Drive Toward a Better Future, its product roadmap to make all Matchbox die-cast cars, playsets and packaging with its recycle goal. The company also unveiled the Matchbox Tesla Roadster, its first die-cast vehicle made from 99 percent recycled materials and certified CarbonNeutral, available starting in 2022.

Last year, Mattel introduced several toys as part of its recycle goal, including the Fisher-Price Rock-a-Stack and Fisher-Price Baby's First Blocks, as well as three MEGA Bloks sets - all made from bio-based plastics. Further, UNO Nothin' But Paper became the first fully recyclable UNO deck without cellophane packing materials.