The Sustainability Consortium’s Toys Sector held a face-to-face meeting in Hong Kong on January 10th and 11th, 2012. Over 40 participants representing 18 companies were present. This gathering was aligned with one of the world’s largest toy events, The Hong Kong Toy Fair. The timing of this meeting enabled many of the Toys Sector members, as well as non-members interested in learning more about The Consortium and the Toys Sector, to be together.
The first day was devoted to an overview of Toy Industry developments and efforts within sustainability, as well as a demonstration of deliverables from
The Consortium. The meeting then went into how these outputs are being used in practice today and expectations for the future, as seen by companies and organizations such as Disney, Walmart and the Toy Industry Association. Furthermore, attendees had the opportunity to participate and discuss concerns within the Toy Industry and where alignment may be required.
Day two of the Toy Sector meeting focused on the development of action plans resultant from the previous day’s discussion. These plans support a proposed roadmap and activities to address common issues within the industry. Many areas were identified as opportunities and focus efforts to be accomplished in 2012, which encompassed points throughout the product life cycle.
A follow up to this meeting, in which specific actions and timelines will be developed, will occur during the New York Toy Fair in February, 2012.
Lou Molinari
Manager, Toys Sector