{"id":567298,"date":"2026-08-13T01:34:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T01:34:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/567298\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T01:34:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T01:34:17","slug":"woolworths-investigating-after-anonymous-delivery-exposes-ooshies-promotion-so-many","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/567298\/","title":{"rendered":"Woolworths investigating after anonymous delivery exposes Ooshies promotion: ‘So many’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Woolworths Ooshies are incredibly popular with kids and collectors,<\/a> but some shoppers have raised concerns about the amount of plastic being generated.<\/p>\n

Reverse Garbage, a Sydney-based not-for-profit group that promotes reuse over recycling, is still grappling with what to do with a pallet of unwanted toys from a previous supermarket promotion.<\/p>\n

Its chief executive, Kirsten Junor,<\/a> explained that a pallet of Woolworths Bricks, a Lego-like toy,<\/a> was left at the warehouse.<\/p>\n

“They were an anonymous donation, and that’s the truth,” she told Yahoo News.<\/p>\n

“Someone had found them and said they did not want to see them go into landfill.”<\/p>\n

\"Left:<\/p>\n

Kirsten Junor (left) has called on Woolworths to stop producing Ooshies. Her Reverse Garbage non-profit is grappling with what to do with a pallet of Woolworths Bricks that were left at its warehouse.<\/p>\n

(Reverse Garbage)Mystery behind Woolworths Bricks delivery<\/p>\n

Like Ooshies, the Woolworths Bricks are recyclable.<\/p>\n

To help prevent them from going into the wrong bin, each customer service counter has a designated collection point for recycling toys that kids didn’t want.<\/p>\n

When the Bricks promotion ended, Woolworths organised to send all unused stock to a recycling company so the toys would not go to landfill.<\/p>\n

How some ended up being diverted to Reverse Garbage instead remains a mystery, and the supermarket is investigating what occurred.<\/p>\n

Woolworths was unable to immediately disclose whether it monitored what happened to the toys after they were sent to the recycler.<\/p>\n

Is there anything wrong with recycled plastic toys?<\/p>\n

The supermarket makes strong environmental claims about its Ooshies being made from 97 per cent recycled plastic and their paper packaging being Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)<\/a> Certified.<\/p>\n

Do you have an opinion about plastic toys? Contact newsroomau@yahoonews.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Boxes<\/p>\n

The Reverse Garbage team are considering what to do with the unwanted Bricks that were left at their warehouse.<\/p>\n

(Reverse Garbage)<\/p>\n

But according to Junor, a self-confessed Woolworths shopper, the idea of producing plastic toys and promotional items is problematic in itself.<\/p>\n

Even if every piece of plastic is recycled, it requires a large amount of energy. Shipping them from their point of manufacture requires more.<\/p>\n

“Those Bricks are so tiny, if a kid drops one, it can get washed into the gutter, and down the drain, or if a mum vacuums one up, it will go in the bin,” she said.<\/p>\n

“And there are so many. It’s why I don’t take polystyrene balls for beanbags anymore,<\/a> those things should be banned as well.”<\/p>\n

Similar concerns were raised about Ooshies in 2019 and 2020<\/a> after claims they were being discarded and washing up on beaches.<\/a><\/p>\n

What’s going to happen to the pallet of Bricks?<\/p>\n

The plastic Bricks are wrapped in paper packets, and Junor and her team are considering unpacking them all so they can be distributed to kids.<\/p>\n

“I don’t know if that’s the correct solution,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Someone brought them to us, and now I’m left to deal with a problem Woolworths created.”<\/p>\n

‘We’re at breaking point’<\/p>\n

Although toys like Ooshies can be fun for kids, Junor argues that the problem is that too many unnecessary products are being produced.<\/p>\n

“It’s not just the Woolworths toys, it’s the gimmicks, the promotions, the Uber handouts I saw on the ground when I got off the bus this morning,” Junor said.<\/p>\n

“One might not seem significant, but when you think about millions of items we generate in Australia, then the world, they do have an impact.”<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/p>\n

The world produces around 460 million tonnes of plastic every year, and production is predicted to more than double by 2050 to over 1,000 million tonnes.<\/a><\/p>\n

“We’re at breaking point,” Junor said.<\/p>\n

“The oil used to create plastic spends millions of years in the ground, and then a nanosecond in your hand, and we should be treating it as a special resource.”<\/p>\n

You can also follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, TikTok<\/a>, X<\/a> and YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n