Goodbye Plastic? MGA Entertainment Boosts Sustainability Efforts With L.O.L. Toys
Sustainability is taking on a playful spin as popular toy brand L.O.L. swaps out plastic for paper.
Owned by privately held toy company MGA Entertainment, Inc., L.O.L. Surprise! products will now have compostable, paper-based spherical packaging, launching first with its Earth Love brand in celebration of Earth Day. These products will feature two new characters — Earthy B.B. and Grow Grrrl — available exclusively at Walmart.
The company will be expanding the initiative at all retailers globally, with the goal of transitioning 65% of all L.O.L. Surprise! plastic balls by fall 2022. The company is looking to use sustainable materials like bamboo, wood, sugar cane, and other natural materials in place of plastic.
MGA Entertainment expects 45 million L.O.L.. Surprise! toys to be produced with sustainable packaging, representing at least three metric tons of plastic eliminated from the toy line in 2022. The company is continuing a partnership with TerraCycle, which will accept and recycle any plastic L.O.L. packaging.
[Read more: Conagra Brands’ Evol Minimizes Eco Footprint With Carbon-Neutral Frozen Meals]
This is the latest push in a series of moves to reduce the company’s carbon footprint. For example, in 2019, MGA committed to achieving and maintaining 95% recycled or Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified content in the paper and wood fiber used in its products and packaging. Additionally, the company said it would achieve 100% recycled, recyclable or bio-based plastic materials in its products and packaging by 2025.
Watch how MGA Entertainment is tackling sustainability:
Additional efforts include:
- The introduction of the Real Wood Adventure collection from Little Tikes.
- In Poland, teams changed Cozy Coupe floorboards from yellow and pink to black in order to minimize waste and enable the use of recycled material. The team also uses boxes made from 100% recycled cardboard, turns 100% of production scraps back into production, and introduced a Go Green line of toys that are 92.3% made of recycled materials.
- At their California headquarters, all plastic water bottles have been replaced with water filtration systems; utensils, plates and supplies are bamboo or recycled paper products; and employees are encouraged to drive electric cars by offering free charging stations.
MGA Entertainment founder and CEO, Isaac Larian, said the company is committed to sustainability and eco-friendly initiatives.
“We are proud to take this monumental step with our new L.O.L. Surprise! Earth Love toys, with many more to come," he said. "In 2019, we made a commitment to work toward making our toys more sustainable by 2025 and with this launch today, we are taking a big step toward this promise, hoping to set an important precedent within the toy industry that directly affects our future leaders."
