It may have been just under one year ago that the leading toy brand, Addo Play unveiled a new strategy for sustainable development under its Caring for the Future campaign which included a brand new approach to the design of its product and packaging as well as day-to-day business operations, but it was an announcement some eight years in the making.

Dating back to 2015, Addo Play’s relationship with sustainability reads like a story of evolution. From the moment of its launch it was clear that Addo had landed on the international toy scene with a strong foundation of ethical practice. By 2016, the business had launched its first bit of research into sustainable development.

Since then, the subject has become one the toy business’ founders, Mary Price and Dave Martin, wear proudly on their sleeves. In March last year, the pair were ready to show that to the world with the launch of a dedicated space on its website through which customers can learn and engage with Addo Play’s strategy as well as its vision for the future.

“Sustainable development is one of Addo Play’s key business objectives and influences our day-to-day decision making,” Dave tells Products of Change. “Our strategy aims to deliver this commitment through product and packaging design; responsible business operations; ethical trading principles; community focus; and a caring, diverse, and inclusive organisational culture.”

So integrated is the subject of sustainability, Addo Play has even set up several workstreams to support its strategy, each one of them sponsored by a member of its Sustainability Steering Committee and each established to work long-term within their field for the continuous sustainable development of the company.

This all falls under the core pillars of the Amersham-based toy company’s sustainability strategy which includes product and packaging sustainability; ethical sourcing and environmental impact; and ongoing projects dedicated to diversity, equity and inclusivity as well as community support.

Let’s take a closer look at Addo Play’s efforts in its product and packaging design to begin with. Reducing waste has been a targeted focus area for the business for a number of years and already Addo Play has made the switch to more responsible and sustainable materials across ranges such as its Addo Nick Jr. Ready Steady Dough; Busy Me; and Craft brands.

“A new product and packaging materials database is helping us to prioritise and drive forward further improvements,” says Mary. “Meanwhile, other changes have also included reduced box sizes and the removal of plastic bags; trays; acetate windows; and security ties.

“We have also introduced ‘Made Responsibly’ information call-outs for Early Learning Centre branded products to increase customer awareness of our sustainable endeavours.”

Addo Play has also recently started working with the team at VALPAK – a fourth party organisation and a leader in environmental compliance and packaging legislation. The group has been engaged to support Addo Play with its packaging compliance programme while helping the team “identify opportunities to enhance the sustainability of its product packaging.” Meanwhile, all of Addo Play’s wooden toys (Woodlets, ELC Classic Wood, and ELC Let’s Pretend Wood) are now FSC accredited, while once again within its ELC portfolio, the use of recycled PET (rPET) has been extended to all its plush toys while the inner polybags across all ELC puzzles launched since July last year have been removed – a move that in just one season saved over 42,000 polybags from being produced.

Oh, and when it comes to product and packaging, there’s still more. The team has also recently produced a Sustainable Packaging Guide for use among its vendors and product designers to work in unison to meet retailer requirements while designing for sustainability and reduced environmental impact.

“The packaging guide is intended to optimise material efficiency through packaging reduction and encourages the selection of materials that are recyclable, recycled, or from renewable sources,” explains Mary. “Working closely with our UK and international retail customers, we are able to ensure their requirements are incorporated within our design guidelines.”

This kind of cross-value chain and cross-stakeholder chain collaboration is now at the heart of Addo Play’s approach to its sustainable development and Net Zero ambitions. In fact, further to its initial environmental impact initiatives such as controlling waste, travel, commuting, and energy consumption, the toy firm has started engaging with vendors to assess the impact of its supply chain and “is keen to work collaboratively to identify opportunities to reduce its carbon emissions and share best practices.”

Roger Panton-Kent, head of quality assurance and compliance at Addo Play, says: “Environmental impact has many dimensions to it. To start, we wanted to initiate fast and easily implemented programmes while we worked on more long-term projects.

“We have promoted various energy saving and recycling initiatives in our offices, including temperature control and use of electrical equipment. We have also developed our travel policy so we are working harder to minimise carbon emissions with, for example, car sharing schemes and encouraging rail travel among staff rather than flights.

“We continue to build on these steps by taking more actions to reduce emissions and raising awareness within our supply chain and engage with suppliers about our wider impact.”

None of this has gone unnoticed by the industry, by the way. In the last year, Addo Play won no fewer than 15 industry awards across a “significant range of categories” including Best Eco Toy in the Loved By Children 2023 Awards.

“This was extra special,” says Roger. “It isn’t always about producing the most ‘on trend’ toy because caring for the future through sustainable design and awareness is important to customers too. This win just motivates us to continue our ambitious journey.”

And where will that lead Addo Play? Well, if you’re going to have ambitions, you might as well make them lofty. And among the company’s key objectives is, of course, the transition to the circular economy.

“Alongside selecting recycled or sustainable raw materials for our products, we are building recyclability and repair into our design principles,” says Mary. “Our packaging designs also aim to minimise the number of different material types within one pack format and select materials that are easy to recycle.

“We are only at the start of our journey and we’re not perfect. But we are ambitious to do the right thing. We will strive to make progress and play an active role in the development of the emerging ‘circular economy’. We look forward to this long and exciting journey.”

Exactly what the next steps along that journey will look like will come into clearer view later this year when Addo Play unveils its intentions for sustainable development in 2024 in the coming weeks. For now, however, there’s plenty here to play with.