The Taiwan Toy Library Association and Toyota Co yesterday cohosted a community event at Linsen Elementary School in Taoyuan City’s Jhongli District (中壢) to promote environmental protection through emphasis on toy reuse and recycling.
The association, which has established more than 147 toy libraries across Taiwan, has the recycling and reuse of second-hand toys as its primary goal, but it also aims to help increase interaction between parents and children, especially in disadvantaged families.
After the association entered into collaboration with Toyota in April last year, the automaker offered its branch offices throughout Taiwan as locations to deposit unused, old or broken toys.
Last year alone, the company helped recycle 39 tonnes of toys, of which 16 tonnes came from Taoyuan itself.
The project has donated toys to 1,100 children in rural areas, the association said, adding that it had also repaired broken toys and sent them to children in Cambodia, Indonesia, Nepal, Myanmar and Thailand.
Meanwhile, Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) said that the municipal government would seek to establish at least one center in each district to stimulate parent-child activities.
Toys not only provide amusement for children, but can also be helpful for learning, Cheng said, adding that yesterday’s event offered parents and children the opportunity to play and learn together.
Many toys are simply abandoned when they are damaged or children tire of them, Cheng said.
The collaboration between the association and the company offered a chance to repair such unused toys and find new owners and new purposes for them, he said.
Cheng added that he would push for parent-child centers to collaborate with schools to organize more events that children and parents could attend together.
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