Sandra Ebbott’s quest to make the multi-billion-dollar toy industry more sustainable is gaining traction, after she was invited to a sustainability committee headed by Australia’s peak industry body.
The Mizzie the Kangaroo founder will take up her role with the Australian Toy Association this month.
Ms Ebbott said she felt honoured to be asked to join.
“It’s great to be recognised as leading the way in this area, and for trying to drive change in the sustainability world,” she said.
“But the most pleasing part is that this committee already exists, which shows that it’s not just us trying to make improvements, but the whole industry.”
Ms Ebbott said one of the key areas of focus for the group was on finding more recycling solutions, so that toys don’t automatically end up in landfill after families are finished with them.
Ms Ebbott’s appointment comes just six months after she recycled and repurposed more than 2000 of the company’s iconic, orange, natural rubber teething toys, in what was believed to be a world-first for the $156 billion industry.
More than 12,000 units of Mizzie the Kangaroo’s educational books, puzzles, music boxes and teething toys – worth $330,000 – were destroyed in February 2022 when water tore through its Brisbane warehouse.
Covered in mud, everything was rendered unsuitable for sale.
But rather than see them go to waste, Ms Ebbott was determined to find another solution.
Mizzie the Kangaroo partnered with Pearl Global, an Australian company committed to solving the global waste tyre problem.
A thermal desoprtion process was used to transform the toys into high-value fuel, carbon, steel and gas, which will be used to build roads and other infrastructure.
Mizzie the Kangaroo also unveiled its new recycling program, whereby customers can return purchased items to the company at the end of its lifespan, to be recycled and repurposed.