Sustainable Packaging
Mattel is applying our principles of circularity across our packaging portfolio, aimed at reducing environmental impact and related business risks through enhancing resource efficiency, and driving progress toward sustainable design and development objectives. Mattel uses four principles of circularity in the design of its packaging: Reduce, Replace, Reuse, and Recover.
Reduce:
Use less material.
Replace:
Substitute virgin, less sustainable materials with post-consumer recycled materials or materials derived from sustainable renewable sources.
Reuse:
Develop packaging that is part of the play pattern of the product or can be used for storage.
Recover:
Optimize our process for materials recovery and reuse, including adding consumer communications on packaging on how to responsibly recycle.
Progress Toward Goals
Achieved 97.9% recycled or FSC-certified content in the paper and wood fiber used in our products and packaging in 2021, as validated by the Rainforest Alliance.
Announced a new goal to reduce plastic packaging by 25% per product by 2030 (versus 2020 baseline).
Received a 2021 FSC Leadership Award for excellence in our use of FSC-certified products and our commitment to responsible forest management.
Increased the amount of recycled PET (polyethylene terephthalate) in most of our window cartons and blister packs from 25% in 2020 to 30%.
Completed a packaging baseline assessment and published a report on Mattel’s Packaging Approach and Performance.
Conducted Upstream Innovation Training, facilitated by IDEO, for our packaging designers and engineers, leveraging materials developed by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
Highlights on Progress
Achieved 97.9% recycled or FSC-certified content in the paper and wood fiber used in our products and packaging in 2021, as validated by the Rainforest Alliance.
Announced a new goal to reduce plastic packaging by 25% per product by 2030 (versus 2020 baseline).
Received a 2021 FSC Leadership Award for excellence in our use of FSC-certified products and our commitment to responsible forest management.
Increased the amount of recycled PET (polyethylene terephthalate) in most of our window cartons and blister packs from 25% in 2020 to 30% in 2021.
Completed a packaging baseline assessment and published a report on Mattel’s Packaging Approach and Performance.
Conducted Upstream Innovation Training, facilitated by IDEO, for our packaging designers and engineers, leveraging materials developed by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
Mattel has consistently advanced its sustainable packaging efforts. In 2021, the Rainforest Alliance completed the validation of our 2020 paper and wood fiber sourcing and confirmed the Company exceeded its goal by achieving 97% recycled or Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified content in the paper and wood fiber used in our products and packaging. Mattel was honored by the FSC with a 2021 Leadership Award for our excellence in the use of FSC-certified products and our commitment to responsible forest management.
The Company completed a packaging baseline assessment with 2019 as the baseline year with the ambition to quantify the packaging materials used by type, format, brand, and category. This has provided important data regarding our use of materials across brands, categories, formats, and packaging archetypes.
See our Single-Use Plastic Packaging Update (2023) for more information.
Single-Use Plastic Packaging Update (2023)
Reducing Plastic in Packaging
Recognizing increasing worldwide attention to single-use packaging waste, industry trends in packaging, and equipped with insights that consumers would like to see less plastic used in toy packaging, Mattel has announced a new time-bound goal to reduce plastic packaging by 25% per product by 2030 (versus 2020 baseline).
Source: Based on an internal U.S. nationwide panel consisting of 1,200 parents of kids ages 0-10
Parental Preferences in Toy Packaging
93% would prefer to buy toys in packaging with less plastic (plastic window cartons, plastic blisters, plastic bags)
94% feel there is too much plastic and paper waste in toy packaging
93%
Would prefer to buy toys in packaging with less plastic (plastic window cartons, plastic blisters, plastic bags)
94%
Feel there is too much plastic and paper waste in toy packaging