10116205Enhancing Engagement and Reducing Waste: A Pilot Study on a Circular Toy ConceptClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UKToy making is the most plastic-intensive manufacturing industry of all (UNEP report 2014 "Valuing plastics"). An estimated 90% of toys are made of plastic, 80% of which end up in landfill (Ellen MacArthur Foundation 2020). A great deal of waste is caused by extremely short durations of useful play; 20% of parents find their child only plays with a new toy for a day and almost 50% will have given up on a toy after a week (British Heart Foundation, 2019). Anibotics Ltd, trading as Animazing Toys, are developing a new source of entertainment for children aged 4-11 using animal toys, which will be delivered as a subscription service. They have already identified significant potential carbon savings over existing linear toy distribution models, especially over those that rely on toy imports from China, which according to Statista (2021) make up 85% of UK toy sales by value. Animazing Toys' first animated toy experience is the rehabilitation of an African bush elephant. A child user cares for their rescued animal - depicted in a soft elephant toy - with help from an animated child characters from Botswana delivered online or via an app. The first version of our idea was successfully tested with over 150 child respondents, 88% of whom rated it positively. This project takes learning from that work and the company's story telling know-how to create a new version of the concept. This project will build and examine the entire circular customer experience by delivering a web-based experience for toy rental and a remotely-monitored iPad experience for animation consumption, provided to 20 volunteer family homes for 2 weeks of use at the start of 2025.