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Playmobil details 'ambitious sustainability targets' and Discover the Planet toy range

Wed 02 Feb 2022 | 05:17 pm GMT
Rob Hutchins | Products of Change Writer

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Playmobil commits to 'ambitious' sustainability targets within the next five years

Horst Brandstätter Group, the parent company of the international toy brand, Playmobil has set itself ‘ambitious corporate sustainability goals’ to reach climate neutral status within the next five years, and to have rolled out a closed material loop as widely as possible by 2030. The Group, made up of Playmobil and Lechuza, is already on track to become climate neutral by 2027 as it implements measures to reduce its carbon emissions across its business. The enterprise has now committed to invest €50 million into climate protection in the coming years. In a release issued to the trade, the group has stated that by 2030 it will have adopted business models ‘as close to circular as possible’, as it looks to close the loop on its material cycles. It’s an indication that Playmobil will be stepping towards greater use of recycled and recyclable materials in the coming months and years. In doing so, it will become the latest major toy company to adopt a more sustainable approach to its production methods and business strategies. Early last year, Mattel detailed new efforts to implement sustainable measures across its core brands with the introduction of its Mattel Play Back scheme through which children and families can return end of life toys for their materials to be repurposed for the creation of new products. Meanwhile, LEGO has been vocal about the $400 million it has invested in developing sustainable innovation, including research into new, recycled plastic LEGO bricks, reduced box sizes, and stripping out single use plastics from its packaging. This week, Playmobil’s parent company Horst Brandstätter Group states that ‘through a sustainable orientation, it will continuously improve environmental balance along the entire value chain.’ “With a wide range of activities, we are supporting the reduction of global emissions and thus also the goals of the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to well below two-degrees Celsius,” said Steffen Hopfner, CEO of the Horst Brandstätter Group. Playmobil’s 2022 product highlights go some length to showcase how the toy firm is already implementing sustainable measures. Its new theme, Discover the Planet will be launched this year with an extensive, newly developed first product range consisting on average of 80 per cent sustainable materials. The new portfolio will make use of post-consumer recycled materials and bio-based plastics across the range, while a large proportion will consist of recyclate obtained from discarded refrigerators. ‘Of course, the Discover the Planet range meets the proven Playmobil quality and, like all of the company’s products, has enormously long durability,’ said the firm. It continued: “The colourful play world symbolises growing up in a world where animals and nature are valued and protected. In a fun and playful way, it provides important knowledge and lets children discover a detailed, exotic animal world at home.” The range is slated to hit shelves this July. “Plenty of fun is guaranteed when playing, learning about and collecting the various Playmobil figures of animals from around the world. The products invite children to discover the Amazon Rainforest, which is vital to our ecosystem.” Packaging for the new range will be produced from ‘nearly 100 per cent recycled cardboard,’ and will include building instructions printed on 100 per cent recycled paper. The toy maker concluded by saying: “In 2022, Playmobil will release plenty of further play experiences that will inspire children and promote their creativity and social skills. After all, as we all know, playing takes place in the mind and has and impact on children as well as their parents.”
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