When powerful floodwaters tore through Sandra Ebbott’s toy business in southeast Queensland, more than 12,000 of her products were damaged beyond repair. But now her ruined stock will get a second life as local roads and infrastructure thanks to a partnership with a pioneering Australian recycling company.
Ebbott’s business, Mizzie the Kangaroo, sells teething and educational toys to bolster the learning development of tots, including books, puzzles, and music boxes, but some $330,000 worth was waterlogged in February’s historic flood disaster that impacted both Queensland and NSW.
Like many business owners, she was devastated by the flood’s ruinous aftermath, but the vast amounts of waste in the cleanup added insult to injury considering the sustainable company principles under which Ebbott had built Mizzie the Kangaroo.
A resolute Ebbott was determined to find a second life for her stock, and after six months of searching, found Pearl Global, a fellow Queensland business that recycles tyres so the materials can be used in the construction of roads and infrastructure.
Pearl Global, which has so far processed more than 2 million tyres, uses a thermal desorption process to transform the toys into high-value fuel, carbon, steel and gas while releasing nearly zero emissions along the way. Ebbott was thrilled.
“To know the Mizzies that were damaged in the floods and those no longer needed by our customers won’t go to waste and will play a critical role in our local infrastructure is pretty special,” she said.
Pearl Global co-founder Gary Foster agreed, saying the partnership was a match made in heaven for the two Sunshine State businesses considering both are determined to leave a lighter footprint on the earth.
“It is a pleasure to support Mizzie the Kangaroo as a business that shares our values of circular economy and commitment to diverting waste from landfill through repurposing,” he said.
Fortunately, Ebbott will be able to rebuild her Mizzie the Kangaroo range thanks to a wildly successful $268,000 crowdfunding campaign after the floods, which will go towards a new suite of products and overseas expansion.
But Ebbott has the recycling bug now. She’s working closely with her Australian retail partners, including Myer, Kidstuff, and Terry White Chemmart, to install collection points for recyclable items to encourage consumers to avoid the bin.
“It’s up to all of us to find new and creative ways of doing things,” Ebbott said.
Brisbane Economic Development Agency CEO Anthony Ryan called the partnership between Mizzie the Kangaroo and Pearl Global an idyllic example of what’s possible when businesses join forces to meet a challenge.
“Thanks to the passion and ingenuity of Sandra and her team, what could have been a disappointing loss has been given a new, sustainable purpose,” he said.
Emma Elsworthy is Climate Editor at Crikey, SmartCompany, and The Mandarin, and writes daily morning newsletter the Worm. Before joining Crikey in 2021, Emma was a breaking news reporter in ABC’s Sydney newsroom, a journalist at BBC Australia, and a journalist in Fairfax Media’s regional network. She was part of a team awarded a Walkley for coverage of the 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfire crisis, and won the Australian Press Council prize in 2013.
