Germany’s Toy Consumption in 2025: High Environmental Costs and a Shift Toward Sustainability

In 2025, Germans are spending approximately 4.5 billion euros annually on new toys, a consumption pattern with significant environmental repercussions. The toy industry is identified as the world’s most plastic-intensive, using around five million tons of plastic yearly, with 90% of toys made from plastic. This reliance on plastic generates high chemical pollution and contributes greatly to environmental damage.

According to Moritz Jäger-Roschko from Greenpeace, 80 to 90 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions associated with toys result from their production and transportation. Despite ongoing economic challenges, the average spending per toy has risen from 150 to 168 euros, showing persistent consumer demand.

Environmental advocates like Viola Wohlgemuth from Deutsche Umwelthilfe are promoting sustainable alternatives such as borrowing, sharing, and trading toys, which could become the new consumer norm. She emphasizes the potential for specialty retailers to adopt a rental business model to foster eco-friendly consumption. Used toys, particularly wooden and board games favored at local bazaars like the one in Mutterstadt, help conserve resources and significantly reduce carbon emissions, though caution is advised concerning health risks from older soft plastic toys, according to consumer protection agencies.

This trend toward purchasing second-hand toys and rethinking toy consumption reflects growing awareness of the environmental impact of plastics and CO2 emissions in the toy sector, highlighting a shift towards more sustainable consumer practices in Germany.