Author Topic: Big plans at Playmobil: Manufacturer announces decisive changes in toys  (Read 5255 times)

Offline StJohn

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It was reported in inFranken.de of 01.02.2022 that Geobra has discovered sustainability:

The Horst Brandstätter Group in Zirndorf, which includes the famous Playmobil toy brand, has set itself "sustainable, ambitious corporate goals", according to a press release from the group.

By 2027, the group wants to be climate-neutral and avoid emissions. This also specifically concerns Playmobil toys. By 2030, the business models should be as circular as possible, i.e. with closed material cycles, the company continues.

The group will "continuously improve the environmental balance along the entire production chain through sustainable means", it says. "We support the reduction of global emissions with a wide range of activities and thus also the goals of the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to well below two degrees Celsius", CEO Steffen Höpfner is quoted as saying.

This is already evident when looking at "the product highlights of 2022", the group advertises. On the theme of "Discover the Planet", a newly developed product range will be launched this year, which on average will consist of more than 80 percent sustainable materials: "Post-consumer recycled materials and bioplastics" will be used.

A large part consists of recycled material obtained from discarded refrigerators. However, "like all of the company's products, the series has an enormous longevity", says the Brandstätter Group. The "colourful play world" stands for "growing up in a world where animals and nature are valued and protected".

The new range will be launched in July [2022]. "The Playmobil figures of animals from all over the world will provide lots of fun for playing, learning and collecting and invite children to discover the Amazon rainforest, which is vital for our ecosystem," writes the Zirndorf-based company. The packaging of the figures and animals is made of "almost 100 % recycled cardboard, the building instructions are made of 100 % recycled paper".

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version) [amended]

Offline Rasputin

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How silly and such a feel good story . As if no one has noticed the way they package all their sets. Many are 5x the size they need to be to achieve proper shelf display — but not only does it create mass amounts of  barely recycleable  waste, just think of how much room this wastes when shipping them all over the world

Next they’ll claim solar is zero emissions…please  ::)

Just turn on your darn nuclear power and crank out the toys
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Offline playmofire

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How silly and such a feel good story . As if no one has noticed the way they package all their sets. Many are 5x the size they need to be to achieve proper shelf display — but not only does it create mass amounts of  barely recycleable  waste, just think of how much room this wastes when shipping them all over the world

Next they’ll claim solar is zero emissions…please  ::)

Just turn on your darn nuclear power and crank out the toys

Although it may seem wasteful having a small set in a large box, the whole thing is tied in with international shipping standards designed to get as many items in a container as  it can hold, thus saving the number of shipping containers required and, ultimately the number of vehicles involved in shipping.

As regards recycleabiliity, cardboard is highly recyclable.

Playmobil have a good record, too, on recycling/reusing the plastic waste from production.
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Offline ZooKeeper

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The original announcement contains a preview-image of the mentioned new animal/amazonas-theme:

https://www.infranken.de/storage/image/6/5/5/1/3771556_artikel-detail-bild_1x_kKh_TIHLQv.webp


Offline Bolingbroke

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How trendy.

The way to go about sustainability is to avoid producing rubbish toys that end up lining landfills a year or less after they were produced.

PM sets are so wasteful, plastic-wise, particularly those sets with huge bases that are totally unneeded for the set’s play value.
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Offline CountBogro

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The original announcement contains a preview-image of the mentioned new animal/amazonas-theme:

https://www.infranken.de/storage/image/6/5/5/1/3771556_artikel-detail-bild_1x_kKh_TIHLQv.webp

I already love the tapir  :love:

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Offline tahra

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The way to go about sustainability is to avoid producing rubbish toys that end up lining landfills a year or less after they were produced.

Agree. playmobil lasts. Or at least, it used to.

Packaging may be an issue though.

And I suppose going back to an actual system would work better than these endless weird single use parts they keep making, for gods know (maybe!) what reason.

I already love the tapir  :love:

Agree! :love:

Offline Rasputin

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That’s another great point, if they stuck to stecks and system X the reusability of molds would also be in the direction they want ……”feel good points”

If you hear the sound of the bell which will tell you that Grigori has been killed, if it was your relations who have wrought my death, then no one in the family will remain alive. They will be killed by the Russian people. :prays:

Offline Oliver

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There's lots of reasons you might want all the buildings that Playmobil makes to be compatible, but the idea that it would someone be more environmentally sustainable is quite the reach.

It's great that they want to be more sustainable.

Offline Rasputin

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I would say just as much of a stretch that a Toy company,  that produces tons of  plastic with notoriously unnecessarily huge boxes is somehow going “green” . Oh they put a toxic solar panel on the roof….all good  ;)
If you hear the sound of the bell which will tell you that Grigori has been killed, if it was your relations who have wrought my death, then no one in the family will remain alive. They will be killed by the Russian people. :prays: