Donate unwanted toys as part of new recycling initiative

With most unwanted toys ending up in landfill, a national retail chain has announced a new initiative to recycle unwanted toys, helping out children in need as well as the environment.

Big W at Clifford Gardens is taking part of a national pre-loved toy donation and recycling initiative to provide families with a solution for donating pre-loved toys.

Toys for Joy kick starts today in partnership with Save the Children and TerraCycle.

The initiative is a commitment to sustainability and 10 stores are participating in the trial.

For eight weeks until Wednesday, May 5 BIG W is calling on families to donate pre-loved toys in good condition at the purpose-built Toys for Joy bins located at the front of Clifford Gardens store.

Toys donated will go on a new adventure, making their way to Save the Children op shops to help raise much needed funds to help ensure every child gets a healthy start in life, an education and the chance at a better future.

Recycling toys, Big W at Clifford Gardens is one of the stores trialing a reycyling program for toys. Guy Hayward, store manager.

Toys that have reached the end of their life will be recycled by TerraCycle and given a new purpose as products such as garden beds, decks, fences and benches.

With Australia generating 75.8 million tonnes of waste in 2018-19, up 10 per cent on the previous two years, 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.

Save the Children works with more than 197 communities and locations across Australia, with 100% of profits from op shops used to fund educational and child protection programs that set children and families up for success.

BIG W Clifford Gardens store manager Guy Hayward said kids outgrew their toys and they often ended up in landfill.

“With the Toys for Joy program, we’ve giving local families in Toowoomba a fantastic opportunity to bring in their old toys, knowing they will make their way to a new home or will be recycled,” he said.

“We’d love to see you down here, sharing this great lesson with your kids on how your donation can help others and our environment.”

Save the Children CEO Paul Ronalds said donations would ensure the charity 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,” he said.