The #TaptoRebox initiative will encourage parents to declutter, donate and recycle with top tips from Mattel Playback. 

The simple 3-step process lets kids and parents box up and send off preloved Mattel toys to be recycled into new ones.

To help parents declutter after Christmas and live more sustainably, Mattel has launched #TaptoRebox with Mattel PlayBack; a toy takeback programme for Barbie, Matchbox and Mega that will enable families to extend the life of their Mattel toys once they have finished playing with them.

The new programme is designed to recover and reuse materials from old Mattel toys, and supports the company’s goal to achieve 100% recycled, recyclable or bio-based plastic materials across all products and packaging by 2030.

Mattel is also teaming up with professional declutterer and life coach Kate Ibbotson, founder of organisational service A Tidy Mind to provide decluttering, donating and recycling tips to UK parents.

Kate Ibbotson offered this advice: “If you didn’t manage to declutter before Christmas, now is a great time to start as we begin the New Year. Encourage children to donate toys which they don’t use or have outgrown to charity – or use the Mattel Playback scheme.”

Kate continued: “The A Tidy Mind team donates and recycles items on behalf of its clients and is determined that nothing should go into landfill if it can be avoided. I am a big supporter of the Mattel PlayBack programme and #TaptoRebox; I have found that children are passionate about donating and recycling their toys and doing so can develop their sense of empathy and social responsibility.”

“At Mattel, we are committed to managing the environmental impact of our products,” added Pamela Gill-Alabaster, global head of Sustainability. “The Mattel PlayBack programme helps parents and caregivers ensure that materials stay in play, and out of landfill, with the aim to repurpose these materials as recycled content in new products. It is one important step we’re taking to address the growing global waste challenge.”

To participate in the Mattel #TaptoRebox PlayBack programme, consumers can visit Mattel.com/PlayBack, print a free shipping label, then pack and mail their outgrown Mattel toys back to Mattel.

The toys collected will be sorted and separated by material type and responsibly processed and recycled. For materials that cannot be repurposed as recycled content, Mattel will either downcycle those materials or convert them from waste to energy. Presently, the programme will accept Barbie, Matchbox and Mega toys for recycling, with other brands to be added in the future.

The #TapToRebox campaign will also be launched in other European countries to encourage parents to donate or recycle old toys with Mattel Playback, with influencers and parents signing up to the scheme in the UK, Germany and France.