Tesco is to trial a new in-store campaign, turning broken plastic toys into books and reading resources for UK schools.

Launching in partnership with Hasbro and environmental education company, Wastebuster, the initiative will run from 4 September to 4 December, encouraging children and families to recycle their broken hard plastic toys via bins in selected Tesco stores.

The leading retailer has said the scheme, which aims to drive a circular solution for unwanted toys, will be rolled out to further stores if the trial proves successful with customers.

Families are first encouraged to rehome toys through charitable giving to friends, family, school toy sales or local charities.

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However, broken toys can be recycled in store, which will be collected, cleaned and turned into plastic pellets, before being used to create new items including coat hangers, chairs and coffee machines.

Tesco category director for toys, Ally Rose, said: “We are always looking for new ways to remove, reduce, reuse and recycle plastic in our business, so we’re delighted to be able to support the Recycle to Read campaign as a way to help our customers do more of this at home.”

“As well as trialling a new way we can work together on hard-to-recycle plastics, it also helps to give children greater access to reading”.

Re-homed and recycled plastic toys can be registered via the Wastebuster website to earn Planet Care Points for any schools attended by children from two to 11 years old in the Sussex area.

The Recycle to Read scheme will then reward the fifty highest point-scoring schools in the area with book vouchers from a prize fund of £5,000 to spend on discounted books by children’s publishing house Harper Collins.