Toy industry challenged by disposal plan

The second shoe drops. What to do with the recalled toys?

Now that toy companies have issued recalls for millions of Chinese-made toys that are either tainted with lead or otherwise hazardous to children, they are scrambling to figure out what to do with them.

Mattel Inc., which on Tuesday recalled about 19 million toys worldwide, said it was working on a "responsible approach" but could not provide details.

Amid the lack of clarity, many parents are confused about how to dispose of the toys. That may mean many of them will end up in the trash and eventually in landfills, where they could possibly leach toxins into the groundwater.

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Lead-painted toys fall under the category of products that would need to be destroyed or properly disposed of, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission in Washington, D.C.

But plenty of other toys — like the millions of toys including Batman and Polly Pockets recalled this week by Mattel because of hazardous magnets — don't necessarily have to be destroyed.

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The magnetic toys were recalled because their small, powerful magnets could harm children if they're swallowed.

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For toys that don't pose an environmental hazard, such as the recalled magnetic toys, a manufacturer has more leeway. A company may even seek to ship the items for sale abroad.

"Some companies do request to re-export their products to another country," Wolfson said.

In such cases, the manufacturers are required to tell the CPSC, which alerts the country where the product is slated to go and gives them the opportunity to deny entry. [emphasis mine]

Scott Wolfson, a spokesman at the CPSC, said that a recalled product like a lead-laced toy cannot be exported for resale.

Come on now. If the toys aren't safe for American children then they aren't safe for any children. Just bite the bullet toy sellers and don't export unsafe toys.

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