Greater Shepparton residents now have the opportunity to recycle broken plastic, metal and plush children's toys for free and save them from landfill.
The new Toys for Joy initiative is available at Big W at the Shepparton Marketplace and facilitated by specialist recycling company, TerraCycle.
Terracycle collects the toys and breaks them down into materials which can be used to make all sorts of new items, from play equipment to home insulation.
If pre-loved toys are in good shape, but no longer wanted, community members should first consider donating the toys to family support organisations, childcare centres or opportunity shops. Where this is not possible, recycling them is the next best option.
All brands of toys are accepted by the Toys for Joy program and electronic toys can be recycled once any batteries are removed, but large items such as bicycles and scooters as well as wooden toys cannot be recycled as part of this program.
Unwanted bicycles and scooters in working order can be accepted for free at the Shepparton Resource Recovery Centre's Resale Shop.
Greater Shepparton City Council Director Infrastructure Gary Randhawa said he hopes families in Greater Shepparton take advantage of the program.
"Toys are a common item disposed of in kerbside bins, but Council do not have the facilities to recycle them.
"It's exciting to see new initiatives like this one available in our region to help reduce waste and save usable materials from landfill," he said.
Toys for Joy drop off point:
- Big W
- Shepparton Marketplace
- Benalla Road, Shepparton
Cost: FREE
