Recycle Your Old Toys With The New Mattel PlayBack Program

Mattel is encouraging parents to go green.

The popular toymaker has made it easy for families to recycle their barely used Barbies, cast-aside Matchbox cars and MEGA building bricks with a new program designed to turn plastic parts of their toys into new products.

The ‘Mattel PlayBack’ initiative is part of its goal to achieve 100 percent recycled, recyclable or bio-based plastic materials across all products and packaging by 2030. The program will start off by accepting Barbie, Matchbox and MEGA toys for recycling with other brands to be added in the near future.

Sending your toys in is super simple. All you have to do is go to Mattel’s official site and click the “Get Started” button. A free shipping label will be emailed to you one hour after submitting your request. You then need to box up your unwanted toys (you have to provide your own box) and then mail the box you. And you don’t have to bother cleaning, separating, organizing or repairing the toys before sending them back. Just remove all batteries, box up and ship. Seriously, it’s probably the easiest way to clean your house.

Mattel will then sort through the toys, separate them by material type, then have them processed. For materials that can’t be repurposed into new toys, Mattel PlayBack will either downcycle those materials into other plastic products or convert them from waste to energy.

Pamela Gill Alabaster, Mattel global head of sustainability, said the program is one step the company is “taking to address the growing global waste challenge.” She also said Mattel is making strong progress on its promise to reach 100% recycled, recyclable, or bio-based plastics by 2030. It has released a number of toys made from bio-based plastics, including blocks and stacking rings under the Fisher-Price brand, and three Mega Bloks sets. It also unveiled the Matchbox Tesla Roadster, its first die-cast vehicle made from 99% recycled materials, and certified as carbon neutral.

Looking forward to seeing the other toy brands get the green treatment, too but this is a great start. It’s also probably the easiest way to clean your house!