Company Profile - Sambro

Fresh thinking at Sambro

In April, Sambro announced the appointment of Lisa Longley to the newly created role of Ethical and Sustainability manager, reflecting a wider company drive towards a more sustainable future. Rachael Simpson-Jones caught up with Lisa to find out what changes have been made so far.

When I joined the toy industry a little over five years ago, there didn’t seem to be many conversations happening regarding sustainability or the environmental impact of toy production. Now it often seems like it’s all anyone can talk about. Sambro is one company making major strides in its this area, and Lisa is on board to oversee the implementation of a new sustainability programme, as well as manage the ethical compliance of the company’s supply base. Lisa’s background is in textiles and fashion, but her experience means she’s been able to implement big changes at Sambro from the word go.

For Lisa, tackling Sambro’s plush portfolio has been an obvious and very successful jumping off point. As announced in June, Sambro has made the switch to recycled filling across its entire plush range, slashing the need for virgin polyester production and diverting single use plastic from landfills. The filling used in each toy is made from 100% recycled postconsumer plastic, coming mostly from plastic bottles and developed in line with Global Recycle Standard guidelines.

The recycled plush filling is just the beginning of a wide-sweeping series of measures that will see Sambro continue to drive forward its commitment to its Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards. Other consumer facing sustainability steps include a move towards plastic free packaging. As an FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council) certified company, Sambro’s plastic-free packaging claims are backed by the necessary evidence to show the company is moving in the right direction. The team will work with its vendors to implement this across all ranges by the end of Q1 2023, ensuring as many items as possible are housed in plastic free, FSC certified packaging.

“Recently, we had a call with a major licensor that would like all licensees to move to 100% plasticfree packaging,” Lisa tells me. “The question in any situation like this is always: ‘Is that change pushing the environmental impact into other areas, and what does that mean?’ Yes, paper is easier to recycle at the consumer end, and degrades, unlike plastic – but as a responsible company, we need to ensure that the trees being used to produce the paper and card are coming from renewable, sustainable and well managed forestry, otherwise any claim regarding ‘eco-friendliness’ quickly falls down.”

I asked why Sambro has decided to implement a new sustainability programme? Lisa tells me it was simply ‘the right thing to do’. She also points out that today’s kids are actively learning about, and engaging in, issues surrounding environmental protection, responsible citizenship and sustainability, meaning that as consumers, they want to see the toys they buy becoming better for the planet and its inhabitants.

Another facet of Lisa’s role is overseeing the S and G in ESG (social and governance). One of the first tasks following her appointment was to create an ESG committee and draw up a policy with clear objectives. These include safeguarding the health, wellbeing and safety of Sambro employees, and keeping a watchful eye on the 62 Chinese factories that produce Sambro’s toys. The company’s strategy encompasses its entire supply chain, meaning its factories must be audited by an independent third party to ensure their workers’ rights and environmental compliance policies align with Sambro’s goals and its commitment to both planetary and human stewardship.

Throughout our conversation, Lisa is considered and careful in how she words things - with good reason. The term ‘greenwashing’ is everywhere right now; the practice of making an unsubstantiated or misleading claim about the environmental benefits of a product, service, technology or company practice. Sambro is not about to engage in it, that much is clear. I asked what Sambro’s long-term goals are: whether it was aiming to be carbon neutral by a certain date, or whether it would ultimately be producing 100% recycled toys in 100% plastic-free packaging?

“It’s far more important to us that the changes we make are positive, backed by certification and/or data we can produce on demand, and maintainable (or improvable) in the long term,” Lisa explains. “No one will be able to accuse Sambro of greenwashing because everything we’re doing has involved digging down into the minutiae to expose exactly what impact it will have. For example, the steps we’ve taken so far have resulted in a -18% reduction in company carbon emissions, from our baseline year of 2019. This is quantifiable and provable, and something we’re very proud of.”

In line with this stance, you won’t hear Lisa refer to Sambro’s toys using terms such as ‘sustainable’ or ‘eco-friendly’. Instead, the message is that they are more sustainable, or better for the environment, than toys made with filling derived from virgin plastics, for example. If perfection is difficult to reach – and let’s be honest, it is – then the next best thing is to try as hard as you can to get as close to it as possible.

Lisa’s work has only just begun, with Sambro continuing to explore all other areas in which small changes could make a big difference. Of particular interest are the opportunities presented by FSCcertified wooden toys. Sambro is also looking at sugar cane plastic as a possibility, one of the less commonly used materials for toys.

In addition to its plastic-free packaging goals, Sambro is exploring new ways to help consumers deal with packaging in the best way possible. Many single use poly bags will be replaced with zip-lock bags that can be used for storage of smaller toys, and QR codes will begin to feature on all packaging that will link to online guides which show consumers how their packaging should be recycled, or even, eventually, the toy itself once it reaches the end of its life.

For retail, Sambro has also created new on-pack snipes (pictured) that clearly highlight the use of materials that have a lesser impact on the environment. These are simple and easy to understand, meaning retailers have the opportunity to sell the positive story that goes with them, while consumers can make informed purchasing decisions based on clear, trustworthy information.