Our story
Council officers realised the huge potential for diverting pre-loved and unwanted toys from landfill, especially on the run up to Christmas, when families are planning to purchase new toys. The Mid and East Antrim (MEA) Christmas Toy Container project has now run for six years. From saving one tonne of toys from landfill in its first year, in 2023 the project collected over 3.2 tonnes of toys and gifted them to local communities.
MEA council invites residents to drop off pre-loved and unwanted toys to their local Household Recycling Centre (HRC) over this period. The Environmental Health team work with the waste team to ensure strict acceptance guidance on toys dropped off. The council then works in partnership with Habitat for Humanity (Restore) in Ballymena, East Belfast Mission in Larne and Blythswood charity in Carrickfergus by donating the toys to sell on through their charity shops.
By delivering this project, the Council provides items to generate revenue for the charities, and provides families from all walks of life with an opportunity to benefit from purchasing very reasonably priced toys for loved ones at Christmas.
Dates for toy drop begin in October, and end the week before Christmas. Toys accepted include kids bicycles, scooters, plastic seesaws, small plastic slides etc, games, v-tech toys, jigsaws, books, dolls, robots, most plastic/wooden toys etc, in good working order. We do not accept soft plush toys e.g. teddy bears.
The hope is to continue to run the project for many years to come.
Our advice
Ensure you have all relevant staff aware of the project, including start/end times.
Ensure you have an effective communications campaign designed to inform the public.
Ensure you have the outlets established to gift toys to the public i.e. local charities and local community groups.
Ensure comms include specific information on the type of toys accepted (and what is not).
Ensure effective comms between staff during the project, to ensure there is no build up of toys at the drop off locations.
Ensure staff use the Household Recycling Centre weighbridge to capture the tonnage diverted.
Our Changeprint
Our Changeprint can be measured by tonnes of pre-loved toys diverted from landfill each year; number of charities/community groups enabled to receive and redistribute our pre-loved toys; estimated number of families given access to affordable toys through the project; year-on-year increase in toy collection, demonstrating rising participation and impact.
