Circonomy and Moose Toys have partnered to help local residents in Melbourne’s north declutter their toyboxes of new, old or broken toys sustainably through their pilot toy take-back scheme ‘More Smiles, Less Waste‘ at Northland Shopping Centre.
The program encourages families to drop off toys they may have outgrown, are no longer working, or would simply like to regift, to Northland. Circonomy will sort the toys to understand which items may be suitable to be rehomed, safely repaired, or recycled to avoid unnecessary materials ending up in landfill.
The pilot is an exercise to gather new insights into the Australian toy market to help inform broader opportunities to transform the Australian toy industry into a truly circular economy.
Moose Toys CEO, Paul Solomon said, “At Moose, we are known for our innovation, and we are super excited to be partnering with Circonomy in this rehoming, repairing and recycling initiative. This is a first for the Australian children’s toy industry and a wonderful way to help give new life to pre-loved toys, create more smiles and prevent valuable materials going to landfill.
“Partnering with organisations, such as Circonomy and Vicinity Centres, to test new concepts, develop new insights and help create sustainable solutions is an important step as we work towards a more circular toy industry.”
Northland Shopping Centre will become home to the ‘Bag It, Tag it and Drop It’ station for five weeks with Circonomy, Moose Toys and Vicinity encouraging families to bring new, old or broken toys to be rehomed, refurbished or recycled. The station will be located on Ground Level between EB Games and Games World. All toys will be either repaired and rehomed or recycled where possible.
Circonomy CEO, Ryan Swenson commented, “With an estimated 26.8 million toys ending up in landfill in Australia each year, we need to think differently, not just in terms of how they are disposed, but also how they are designed. In doing so, we can maximise the joy toys bring to children and minimise the waste they create.”