Plastic pollution: no toying issue
For the past two decades, China has been emerging as the world’s “super-power” in toys manufacturing, dominating much of the world’s toy trade. According to the information of the US Department of Commerce, China is exporting over 40% of the world’s toy merchandises, topping Taiwan, the second runner-up in the survey, by a wide margin of 30%. Statistics released for the whole year of 2005 indicates an even higher total share of 45% for China-made toys.

This frenzy is evident in a recent report by People’s Daily, stating that Shenzhen of Guangdong province is now the world’s “capital” of toys production. Currently, there are more than 10,000 types of toys turning out in Shenzhen, making up as much as 70% of the total world toys export. A new toy trading centre was launched in Dongguan in late 2005.

But as China’s toy export is bourgeoning, the escalating environmental damage caused by the use of plastic and other materials in the toy industry becomes a critical concern.

According to a recent report by China’s State Environmental Protection Administration, pollution coming from industrial discharge, in particular the plastic and packaging wastage, has reached an alarming level. Over 43.3% of urban residents polled in early 2005 said that pollution was the most pressing problem that needed immediate attention. An urgent call for a review on the use of plastic in all industrial production, toys output being the most integral part of the issue, has been on top of the agenda.

Green production urged
While warnings were voiced over the plastic pollution in China, the same tone echoed on the other side of the globe, this time in the US heartland. Americans are widely known as the world’s top consumers. And American consumers are being accused of indirectly contributing to global pollution as a result of over-consumption. This accusation poses a great challenge to the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), whose action to curb potentially polluting imports will lead to chain reaction globally.

There have been calls for more restrictive regulation measures on imports to ensure wastage to be contained both at the production stage and the consumption stage. Years of education over environmental protection have also altered the consumers’ attitude in the western world. According to market information collected at the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, more than 20% of US and British customers and 50% of German customers are now willing to pay more for “green products”.

In line with the new consumer culture, both the European Union (EU) and the US government are rolling out new legislations and measures to regulate and encourage the import of merchandises made of recycled/recyclable materials.

In 2003, the European Union took the initiative to introduce a new waste management directive, to be fully enforced by EU member states. The new directive dictates:

1. All member states are to encourage the design and manufacturing of products which facilitate dismantling and recovery;

2. By 31 December 2006, all manufacturers must ensure that recyclable material must be part of a product. For small toys, leisure and sports equipment, manufacturers must ensure that 70% of the materials used are recyclable.

Other than specifying the use of recyclable material, the EU has also laid down detail ground rules over waste treatment and processing, waste recovery, and the financing of used items collection.
Apart from pushing the adoption of recyclable materials in making toys, governments are now also encouraging the use of ‘green product’ labels to “stand-out” products made of recycled materials or with high energy efficiencies. At the moment, the EU is granting “Eco-labels” to all products made of recycled material. Similar systems include the “Green Seal” of the US, the “Blue Angel” mark of Germany, and the “Eco Mark” of Japan. All these labels are the official seals of the respective countries to endorse products made with recognised recycled materials.

Toys that promote recycling and nature conservation
As “green” toys have become popular in the US and Europe, toys manufacturers are rapidly catching up to brand their products as “eco-friendly”.

Since 2002, several major toy brands, such as Mattel, Brio and Chicco Toys started claiming that they had dropped the use of PVC from their merchandises. They also pledged that they would require the same from their sourcing and production partners. Moreover, the companies claimed that almost of all their toys on sale across the US markets were PVC-free.

Also in 2005, the United Nation announced a new motion to urge a wider adoption of recycled materials in industrial production to further reduce the release of elements harmful to the ozone layer.

Other than plastics, consumer groups in North America are also asking the government to regulate other material used in toy-making. For example, wooden toys made of stuff with ozone-depleting volatile organic compound should be discouraged. It has been found that much of the “wood” used may not be produced by sustainable-growth approach, and also the packaging that fills up landfill not bio-degradable.

With rising awareness of nature conservation, toys with themes on environmental protection are gaining popularity among parents and educators.

For the past two years, Brio Corporation has been turning out toys with “environmental protection” as the subject of game-play, like the “recycling trucks” that educate young players the fun and significance of recycling. Hog Wild Toys, another US toy maker, has designed a set called “Recycling Joe Bender”, with colorful characters that have magnets on their “hands” and “feet” for retrieving metal objects such as coins and paper clips. The set also comes with a tub packed inside a 3-inch high container and a bender, as well as a story book to illustrate a variety of poses.

Other than individual toys that educate children on the importance of recycling, toy sets that carry educational themes are also popular in the western world. In Canada, Mastermind had brought to market in 2003 a nature study kit called the “Ultimate Nature Pack”. Featuring tools for collecting rock samples, and a magnifying glass and a collecting net, the player can conduct over 50 experiments with the help of a manual.

Get your “green toys” noticed in the market
In view of the heightened awareness of environmental protection in the major markets, one further step toy manufacturers should take is to make sure that their products are included in local recycled products directories.

Many cities in both the US and Canada have been publishing since 2002 special phone directories featuring recycled product retailers in their vicinity. By getting published in these directories, a manufacturer or ODM product developer can establish a direct sales channel in the intended market for their “green” toys.

While the market for recycled toys still looks marginal at the moment, the story of Creative Corrugate, Inc., is a good example to illustrate the advantages of emphasising “green labels” for toy products.

First incorporated in 2001, the Toronto-based manufacturer made their first fortune in marketing preschool and educational toys through specialty shops and chains. Making use of such recycled materials as cardboard, the company aims to achieve the goal of having 95% of their products made in recycled materials. At the same time, Creative Corrugate is seeking to manufacture, die-cast and assemble their toys at the same location, so as to reduce wastage in transportation.

To enhance the reusability of its products, Creative Corrugate has made use of special surface paper to make their playhouses reusable sometime in the future. The company also supplies non-toxic crayons to keep in line with the health guidelines of the Canadian government.

Jamie Matear, one of the company’s partners, concludes that “products do not have to be harmful to the environment in order to be successful.”