Toy waste is a real issue, and this year more and more toymakers are thinking “green.”
ZURU is the latest to join the fight in combating waste with the Bunch O Balloons Recycling Program, powered by a long-term strategic alliance with TerraCycle.
Beginning Sept. 1, all ZURU Bunch O Balloons products sold in the U.S., Canada, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand will be fully recyclable. Customers will be able to recycle 100% of their used Bunch O Balloons plastics and packing — including balloon pieces and fast-fill stems — by shipping or dropping off at TerraCycle recycling stations. The companies will make it easy for consumers to ship recyclables with printable shipping labels.
“Taking steps to make our products more sustainable is a top initiative especially when it comes to left-over balloon latex and packaging from our Bunch O Balloon brands,” says Anna Mowbray, COO and founder, ZURU. “Through our partnership with TerraCycle, we’re providing consumers a simple way to recycle material, reduce the amount of landfill plastic around the world and produce recycled materials.”
ZURU’s relationship with TerraCycle is part of the company’s 10-year sustainability program to rethink how it designs and redesigns new and existing products to reduce the usage of plastics while still delivering quality toys and encouraging recycling.
“Together, we are working to encourage consumers to take action to reuse and recycle waste instead of incinerating or landfilling it,” says Tom Szaky, TerraCycle CEO. “This moves waste from a linear system to a circular one, allowing it to keep cycling in our global economy.”
The amount of waste generated by toy products and packaging has become a genuine concern in recent years, especially with the rise in the popularity of blind-packed and “surprise” toys, which often include layers of plastic, paper, and cardboard waste. The Toy Association recently launched the Smart Packaging Initiative (SPI) Tool in an effort to help toy makers create packaging designs that are more eco-friendly. Read more about the initiative here.
