The UK’s largest retailer, Tesco, and toys manufacturer, Hasbro, have teamed up to provide consumers with more opportunities for recycling toys.
In collaboration with not-for-profit environmental education company, Wastebuster, the businesses will trial a new in-store campaign aimed at ultimately keeping plastic toys out of landfill or incineration.
The initiative encourages recycling toys via collection bins placed in selected Tesco stores. It has started with facilities in 19 Tesco stores in Sussex until 4 December, but it could roll out to all Tesco stores if it proves successful with shoppers.
The companies involved said – in the first instance – they encourage families to rehome toys through charitable giving to friends, family, school toy sales or local charities. But if recycling toys, consumers are promised that products will be cleaned and processed into plastic pellets, before being used to create new items including coat hangers, chairs, and coffee machines.
The whole programme is also attached to the ‘Recycle to Read’ campaign, which aims to get schools recycling in exchange for education resources.
Those recycling toys can register their items on the Wastebuster website to earn ‘Planet Care Points’ for any schools attended by children from two to 11 years old in Sussex. The Recycle to Read scheme will then reward the 50 highest point-scoring schools in the area with book vouchers from a prize fund of £5,000 to spend on discounted books by children’s publishing house, Harper Collins.
Participating schools can also win book bundles provided by Farshore and Ladybird, in a weekly prize draw.
Ally Rose, Tesco category director for toys, said: “We are always looking for new ways to remove, reduce, reuse, and recycle plastic in our business, so we’re delighted to be able to support the Recycle to Read campaign as a way to help our customers to more of this at home.
“As well as trialling a new way we can work together on hard-to-recycle plastics, it also helps to give children greater access to reading.”
Read more about Tesco’s environmental plans on Green Retail World
[Image credit: Green Retail World]
