The London Toy Company launches its first TfL train sets all made from recyclable plastics

The London Toy Company has lifted the lid on its venture into new toy categories this year, with the launch of its Transport for London licensed train set and trains, all made from recyclable plastic.

The new launch marks the first time that The London Toy Company has entered the plastic toys market, having made a name for itself in the plush sector, working with a wealth of reputable licensing partners, including TfL.

Following a two year period of product development, the curtain has been drawn to reveal the firm’s new London Underground Electric Train Set (£39.99), which includes a track and tunnels made from cardboard that can be constructed at home. Having worked closely with TfL engineers, the track presents an authentic shape and feel to a London Tube station, and features an included sound module, reminding fans to ‘Mind The Gap’.

The new line-up also includes a standalone entry level model of the newest S Stock trains on the system, priced at £7.99.

“It’s all very exciting for us to be expanding on our ever-successful Underground soft toy range with a raft of new products for all ages and budgets,” Joel Berkowitz, founder and director of The London Toy Company, told Licensing.biz.

“Although our soul lies in soft toys, we had fantastic opportunities to expand into the plastic/hardlines category with our licensors. The price point for our new products will fit well into the pocket money category which was a key area we have been wanting to access.”

Early reaction to the toy line has been extremely positive, Berkowitz has revealed, with clients already telling the team that its new Underground Train Set ‘will be the star of the show this Christmas. Many have also championed the company’s decision to use recyclable materials in the production of its new range.

“We have committed to offsetting our carbon footprint and that’s why we have taken the decision to ensure all of our new plastic toys are made from recyclable materials, and are also recyclable themselves,” said Berkowitz.

“TfL is all about encouraging a greener lifestyle and what better way to emphasise this with sustainably manufactured toys that capture the brands’ identity and values.”

Already on board to stock the range this season are the likes of Very.co.uk. Amazon, and IWOOT, while Berkowitz is filled with surety that the range “will fly” at wider retail.

The company has since teased numerous developments across other key brands within the portfolio and strong performances with Harry Potter and JCB.

“We are also working directly on projects with a number of clients such as Boeing, The Tank Museum, Merseyrail, Goodwood, RAF, Steven Brown Art and other on some incredible new toys,” said Berkowitz.

“Over the last year and a half, I have experienced the roller coaster of extreme pessimism, and extreme optimism.. Collapsed tunnels, yet also tunnels with the brightest light at the end. What I can say is that we have emerged from Covid in ways I had never imagined.

“Silver lining really are a thing. Stay focussed, stay passionate, and do the things you don’t always want to do… and and have fun.”

 

LEGO unveils prototype brick made from recycled plastic in ‘first step on long journey’

A prototype LEGO brick made from recycled plastic has become the latest advance made by the Danish toy maker in its ongoing journey towards better sustainability and its ‘ambitious goal’ of becoming 100 per cent sustainable by 2030.

It’s taken a team of more than 150 engineers three years to work on sustainable solutions for LEGO products and test 250 variations of PET materials and hundreds of other plastic formulations. The result is a new prototype, which uses PET plastic from discarded bottles, and the first solution to meet the firm’s strict quality and safety requirements.

Materials testing spanned a spectrum of prototypes, from bricks that didn’t clutch sufficiently, to some that wouldn’t separate throughout what The LEGO Group’s vice president of environmental responsibility, Tim Brooks, has billed ‘as the biggest challenge in the company’s sustainability journey.’

“We are super excited about this breakthrough,” said Brooks in a press release. “The biggest challenge on our sustainability journey is rethinking and innovating new materials that are as durable, strong, and high quality as our existing bricks – and fit with LEGO elements made over the past 60 years.

“With this prototype, we are able to showcase the progress we’re making.”

It will however, be some time before bricks made from a recycled material appear in LEGO products on shelf and in-store, LEGO has admitted. A further testing and development of the PET formulation phase is expected to take at least another year, before the company can assess whether to move to pilot production.

“Experimentation and failing is an important part of learning and innovation. Just as kids build, unbuild and rebuild with LEGO bricks at home, we’re doing the same in our lab,” said Brooks.

At a LEGO Fan Media roundtable interview this week, Brooks revealed that despite the unveiling of the first recycled LEGO brick, Brooks acknowledged the ‘big, big challenges’ still faced by the company in reaching its ‘ambitious target’ of achieving 100 per cent sustainability by 2030.

Speaking to Brick Fanatics, he said: “For the safety, the quality, the colur, the durability, the shininess – and it’s the same we see on the packaging as well, getting paper bags to perform in a strong way and not be punctured and all the rest of it. They’re all big, big challenges.

“I can’t say whether we’ll make it or not. I can definitely say it’s our aim to make it, and we’re putting as much effort as we can behind it. We’ve put significant resources behind it, both financially and people.”

Efforts and resources include a $400 million investment over three years into finding new, sustainable materials to replace traditional ABS. The announcement this week of the first prototype LEGO brick made from recycled plastic bottles is the first step on that journey.

The prototype is made from recycled PET sourced from suppliers in the United States that use US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) approved processes to ensure quality. On average, a one-litre plastic PET bottle provides enough raw material for ten 2 x 4 LEGO bricks.

In 2018, LEGO began producing elements from bio-polyethylene (bio-PE), made from sustainably sourced sugarcane. Many LEGO sets contain elements made from bio-PE, ideal for making smaller, softer pieces such as trees, branches, leaves and accessories for minifigures.

Bio-PE is not currently suitable for making harder, stronger elements such as LEGO bricks.

“We’re committed to playing our part in building a sustainable future for generations of children,” continued Brooks. “We want our products to have a positive impact on the planet, not just with the play they inspire, but also with the materials we use. We still have a long way to go on our journey but are pleased with the progress we’re making.”

DC Thomson, Redan, and Egmont among kids’ publishers to back Wastebuster’s Recycle to Read scheme

A group of the UK’s biggest names in children’s magazines, including DC Thomson and Redan Publishing has signed up to become founding members of the education, research, and recycling programme, Recycle to Read, a campaign aimed at creating a more circular economy for children’s toys.

This week will see the programme begin sign up for schools for pilot collections in the autumn term, and will be announcing additional partnerships from the book publishing, retail, and toy sectors over the coming weeks.

Recycle to Read is a new toy and tech recycling initiative launched by Wastebuster in association with EPPIC and Products of Change with the aim of providing a solution for recycling all plastic toys with ‘take back’ collections housed across retailers, schools and household recycling centres in the UK.

This week sees the programme welcome a host of founding members from across the children’s magazine publishing space, including DC Thomson, Story House Egmont, Immediate Media, Kennedy Publishing, Redan Publishing, and Signature Publishing.

Katy Newham, founder of Wastebuster, said: “This is a really exciting time for the programme, thanks to the children’s publishers we are able to get phase one off the ground and we have more and more members coming on board as we progress with our talks.

“The entire industry is beginning to understand the value of using toys as a force for good, when educating children and their families in how to live a more sustainable life. Schools who take part in the Recycle to Read programme will benefit from curriculum linked environmental education, based in real life learning and rewarded with books.

“Our collaborative approach and not for profit ethos, means that we can offer an environmental solution for all UK companies who produce toys, not just the ones with the deepest pockets and our investment in education and research, as well as infrastructure and clear packaging iconography, means that our solution has the potential to be far reaching and long-lasting.”

Helena Mansell-Stopher from Products of Change, said: “With only 18 per cent of plastics being recycled globally, and no recycling infrastructure currently in place in the UK to recycle toys, the recycle to read collective impact initiative will provide a solution to this.

“As a cross industry sector initiative, it will be business that will fund the set-up of the toy recycling infrastructure, with all profits going back in to the initiative as Wastebuster are a not-for-profit environmental educator. Products of Change is extremely proud to be working with the Wastebuster team to bring this solution to the industry.”

For more information on the programme please visit www.recycletoread.org or contact Emily Bell on 07715902681 email emily@wastebuster.co.uk.

Sustainability in Licensing | “The UK and EU have the chance to be world leaders in plastic management”

The UK and the EU have the opportunity to be world leaders in plastic resource management, when legislative changes in packaging and plastics finally kick in, ‘but only if we get it right.’

This is the message being promoted by Stuart Foster, CEO at RECOUP and director of EPRO (the European Association of Plastics Recycling and Recovery Organisations) as he prepares to join a panel of experts at this year’s Sustainability in Licensing Conference.

Foster has stated that the current set of policy and legislation proposals made by the government “represent a once in a generation opportunity to deliver change and accelerate the move towards plastic circularity”; with the first signs of the environmental benefits showing green shoots from as early as 2022.

A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Waste Management and MD of PPS Recovery Systems, Foster will be taking to the digital stage next week, to join the second SILC conference taking place online across Wednesday, June 24th and Thursday, June 25th. 

He will be joined by representatives from the likes of LEGO, ZURU, Asda, Tesco, The Eden Project, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Hannah Mills, and The Insights Family in sharing valuable insight on topics including sourcing, fabrics, technology, and the upcoming packaging rules and crucial regulatory changes.

“Plastic is a key material with many environmental benefits, which is why it is so widely used, but this will only remains the case if we can significantly improve current sustainability and recycling credentials and reduce the leakage into the environment,” Foster told Licensing.biz.

“The proposed UK government policies set out in recent consultations on waste prevention, extended producer responsibility, recycled content tax and single use plastics are robust and cover a wide range of areas. So, all efforts should be focused on refining and developing those proposals, understanding the best approaches and committing to the deadlines for delivery.

“If we get it right, the UK and EU has the opportunity to be world leaders in plastic resource management.”

In his SILC21 session, Foster will also underline the importance of acknowledging the environmental benefits of plastic use, remarking on the need for an “evidenced policy making process which takes all environmental and business factors into account and avoids anti-plastic sentiment.”

He said: “We have a responsibility to implement the right systems and drivers to achieve circularity in plastics (and all materials), and then also work internationally to share and support best practice to deliver global change.”

SILC21 will take place online next week (June 24th to 25th). Two-day virtual passes are priced at £100, with a 20 per cent discount for Products of Change members.