Toys You Should Recycle & Toys You Should Keep

As children get older they accumulate more and more toys and eventually space becomes a premium. Something has to give so which toys is it a good idea to keep and which ones should you recycle?

Which ones to keep and which ones to recycle??

Around 40 million toys are thrown away each year with some 13 million toys being put in the dustbin. Damaged or partially damaged toys often end up in landfill sites where they add to a growing problem of waste. Toys made of plastic are not biodegradable and they last a long time, causing further damage to the environment. Compared to glass, metal and other materials plastic is much harder to recycle. One of the biggest problems is that plastics need to be nearly identical in composition for them to be able to mix efficiently. If different types of plastic are melted together they tend to set in layers and this makes the resulting material weak and thus only useful in very limited applications.

13 million toys a year are thrown away. These have been saved

There is also a lot of waste plastic around which reduces its value and may make it economically unviable to collect and recycle some types of plastic. However old toys, even those which are damaged, do not have to end up in landfill sites as they can be recycled. Some Local Councils run recycling schemes that will accept large plastic toys. These can be melted down and used to make new toys. The metal components of toys can also be recycled and used in other products.

Both the metal and plastic can be recycled and reused

Before recycling toys it is often best to wait until children have received a new toy as they will then be more prepared to part with older toys. If the child has younger siblings then you should check if they would like any of the toys before putting them out for recycling. Toys that are in reasonable condition can be donated to charities and some of them can be sent to children in developing countries. Discussing with your children which toys they want to keep and which they want to give away is a good way of getting them to think about the environment and good causes. Some of the charities or community groups that could use toys are local charity shops, local children’s charities, children’s hospitals, local playgroups, local toy libraries, or you could list them on Greengiving. The website  accepts children’s clothes, toys, books, furniture and equipment and you can also find items that you might want or need. It is all completely free. Joining a toy library can be a good way of borrowing new toys and keeping up with the latest fads as well as a good way of getting rid of your unwanted toys.

No! Not that type of Library!!!

When deciding which toys to get rid of, you need to first gather them all together in one place and then sort them into piles. The first pile is for toys that are broken and are not repairable. Don’t be sentimental about this, be ruthless and take them for recycling. The second pile is for those toys that are not working, but can be repaired. If it is a simple thing such as a battery needing to be changed or a part that needs to be glued back together then the toy can be saved. However, for more extensive repairs it may be better to put the toy in the recycling pile. The third pile is for toys that your children have outgrown, but are still in good condition and have all their parts. These toys are ideal candidates for toy libraries, doctors’ surgeries or the local charity shop. The fourth pile is for toys that are only played with occasionally. This pile requires more thought as they might become favourite toys if they had new batteries or all their component parts. Finally the final pile is for favourite toys which must on no account be thrown out if you are to avoid serious tantrums.

Make sure you don’t recycle his fav!

You can also buy toys made from recycled materials such as cardboard. This has two advantages; first it reduces the amount of resources used in the making of the toy and secondly it reduces waste by using material that would otherwise be thrown away, and of course when your children have finished with the toy it can be recycled again. It costs more to recycle products than to make non-recycled products because they are made in smaller quantities, but environmentally the recycled product is better. However, you need to be careful as recycled products may not be as environmentally friendly as you think. Some recycled products are pointless gimmicks, or they may have been made in factories that use a lot of energy or flown half-way round the world which would add to their carbon footprint.

How about a cardboard toy?
Aside from considerations of the sentimental value of toys another aspect of the question of which toys to keep and which to recycle is will the toys be worth anything in the future? Many of us might dream of finding that rare toy in the attic that will sell for thousands at auction. Rare and collectible toys have been selling for record prices in the last few decades. For example a black Steiff teddy bear fetched £91,750 when it was sold at auction by Christie’s. Dinky toys also do very well on the toy market. However, experts caution that the toy market is fickle and investing in toys is not seen as a reliable investment. The most valuable toys are going to be those that have never been played with or those which number among the few that have survived in good condition.

Hideous isn’t it? But worth over £91K!

Some toys are worth a fortune such as good quality dolls, teddy bears, Dinky toys and Hornby train sets. However, it can be difficult to predict which modern toys will be highly sought after in years to come. Plastic toys were generally not considered to be particularly valuable, but in recent years demand for them has increased. Sindys, Barbie dolls and Action Men are all attracting more buyers. Early Star Wars toys are also exceptionally valuable.

Star Wars toys, as you’d expect are worth a mint

Unfortunately if you are thinking of investing in modern toys you will have to wait up to 30 years before you discover whether your hunch about what is or is not valuable was correct. So although your boxed Barbie in mint condition might just be worth a fortune one day there are more reliable investments around. If you decide that you want to invest in toys then it is best to do your research first. There are a number of magazines that will give you an idea of which collectible toys are currently in demand.

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