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HomeNewsNorthern Beaches residents among the first in Australia to trial new toy...

Northern Beaches residents among the first in Australia to trial new toy recycling initiative

Wondering what to do with all those pre-loved toys building up in the garage?

Northern Beaches residents will be among the first in Australia to trial a new toy rehoming and recycling initiative launching Thursday 11 March.

The Toys for Joy program will run for eight weeks, allowing local residents to visit BIG W and drop off pre-loved toys at the purpose-built bins located at the front of the store. Warringah Mall will be one of only ten locations across the country trialling the program.

Toys in good condition will make their way to charity partner Save The Children’s op-shop network to help raise much needed funding to support children in need. Toys that have reached the end of their life will be recycled by TerraCycle as products such as garden beds, decks, fences and benches.

With Australia generating 75.8 million tonnes of waste in 2018-19, the initiative aims to reduce the number of toys that could find their way into landfill by giving toys no longer played with, a new lease on life, while also supporting the one in six Australian children living in poverty across the country via Save the Children. 

Teresa Rendo, Managing Director of BIG W says: “Our partnership with Save the Children and TerraCycle supports our commitment to leading change and making a real difference for Aussie families. We know that as families grow, children grow out of their toys and with few options to recycle them, they end up in landfill. Toys for Joy means parents/carers and kids can drop off their pre loved toys knowing they will be caring for the others and the environment.”

A number of COVID safety measures have been introduced to ensure Aussie families who donate toys at BIG W stores can do so in a safe way. All BIG W stores taking part in the Toys for Joys program have hand sanitiser stations located next to the donation drop-off points, while all toys will go into a mandatory two-week quarantine before being resold through the Save the Children network.

Paul Ronalds, Save the Children CEO, adds:  “Donations to the Toys for Joy program will ensure Save the Children can continue to work with children and their families so they can learn, grow and develop. Funding will directly support programs like Play2Learn, our largest early childhood care and development program, targeting children and parents living in remote and disadvantaged communities across Australia.”

General Manager of TerraCycle, Jean Bailliard, says: “We are excited to team up with BIG W to provide Australian consumers with a free recycling solution that will save tonnes of unused toys from landfill. From park benches to decking, there are so many materials and products that the toys can be recycled into.”

 For more information, visit www.bigw.com.au/toysforjoy

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Manly Observer is an experiment in providing non-sensationalist hyperlocal news on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. We cover the big news across the LGA, but with a hyper focus on the Manly electorate encompassing Balgowlah, Seaforth, Freshwater, Brookvale and Curl Curl up to Dee Why. It is run by those living in the community for the benefit of an informed community. We care about an informed and connected community. That’s it. Simple. Thank you for your support in keeping quality local news alive!

Kim Smee, Editor


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