Mattel uses SABIC’s certified renewable polymers

Heading the initiative will be MEGA BLOKS Green Town, the first-ever toy line available at mass retail to be certified CarbonNeutral. These new construction playsets, including the Grow & Protect Farm and the Build & Learn Eco House, embrace the sustainable material choice and help teach kids green behaviours. From the Matchbox brand, all Action Driver playsets and the Matchbox Recycling Trucks contain SABIC materials, which supports the brand’s Driving Toward a Better Future initiative, to make all Matchbox die-cast cars, playsets, and packaging with 100 % recycled, recyclable, or biobased plastic materials by 2030, in line with Mattel’s corporate goal.

Mattel is the first company in the toys market to work with SABIC in a mass balance approach designed to return second-generation renewable feedstock into high-quality new plastic applications. The partnership directly supports Mattel’s goal to achieve 100 % recycled, recyclable, or biobased plastic materials in its products and packaging by 2030 and is an important step forward in their transition towards a circular economy.

More sustainable Toys

Just in time for Earth Month, four new MEGA BLOKS Green Town building sets support a greener way to play for little builders ages 1 and up in the following ways:

- Each playset, like the Build & Learn Eco House and the Grow & Protect Farm, is made from specifically a minimum of 56 % plant-based materials and a minimum of 26 % International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC) certified bio-circular plastics (mass balance approach).

- Each product is certified CarbonNeutral by Natural Capital Partners, the leading experts on carbon neutrality and climate finance. To achieve the CarbonNeutral product certification, MEGA purchased carbon offsets (less than 500 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents) from the Darkwood Forests Conservation project in Canada.

- Packaging is created with 100 % Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified paper or paperboard, plus soy-based inks and water-based varnishes to enhance recyclability.

- Each set is designed to help teach green behaviours through play patterns, like waste sorting, using electric transport, protecting honey bees, and choosing renewable energy sources.

This year, Matchbox is introducing more products designed to have less impact on the environment and better reflect the real world, while also encouraging greener play patterns, including:

- New electric vehicle (EV) die-cast multi-packs featuring an expanded assortment of EVs from brands like BMW, Nissan, Honda among others.

- A new Recycling Truck made from 80% ISCC-certified bio-circular plastic (mass balance approach).

- Popular Action Drivers^™ playsets using at least 40 % ISCC-certified bio-circular plastic (mass balance approach).

- More products designed for recyclability, such as incorporating easy-to-remove and recycle e-waste electronics in all

- Action Drivers playsets and the new Recycling Truck.

- Video content to help parents educate their kids on the benefits of EVs. 

MEGA and Matchbox are also part of Mattel PlayBack, a toy takeback program launched in the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, and the UK in 2021 designed to recover and reuse valuable materials from old Mattel toys. 

Through sustainable materials

SABIC’s certified renewable polymers include various polypropylene and polyethylene materials derived from second generation renewable feedstock, that are not in direct competition with human food and animal feed production. A cradle-to-gate lifecycle analysis has confirmed their superior sustainability, concluding that each kg of the company’s biobased resins reduces CO₂ emissions by an average of 4 kg as compared to fossil-based virgin alternatives, while at the same time cutting fossil depletion by up to 80 %. In addition, these plant-based materials facilitate the change-over from existing fossil-based applications without compromises on purity, quality, safety, or convenience.

The sustainability of SABIC's certified renewable polymers is validated using a mass balance approach under the widely recognized International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC PLUS) scheme. Mass balance is determined to allocate the renewable content used in production and conversion of the plastic material to the ultimate application. In addition, the certification also provides traceability throughout the partners’ entire supply chain from the feedstock to the final product. AT

https://www.sabic.com/
https://corporate.mattel.com/