Problem addressed

Rejoué addresses several social and environmental challenges:

• Toy waste: Millions of toys are discarded each year, often while still usable. Rejoué helps reduce this waste by giving toys a second life through reuse and refurbishment.
• Social exclusion: Many people face long-term unemployment and difficulties entering the job market. Rejoué offers integration pathways through paid work, training, and individualized support.
• Inequality in access to toys: Not all families can afford quality toys. Rejoué makes toys accessible to all by offering refurbished items at low cost or donating them to those in need.
• Overconsumption and environmental impact: By promoting reuse, Rejoué encourages more responsible and sustainable consumption, contributing to the circular economy.

Innovative solution

Rejoué offers an innovative solution by combining environmental impact, social inclusion, and educational value in a single model:

• Circular economy applied to toys: Rejoué pioneers the reuse of toys on a large scale, implementing rigorous processes for sorting, cleaning, and safety-checking items, which is rare in this sector.
• Social integration through meaningful work: Rejoué involves people in reintegration programs across all stages of toy refurbishment, providing hands-on experience, personalized support, and skill-building opportunities that foster long-term employability. A key specificity of Rejoué is its strong focus on supporting women, particularly those facing multiple barriers to employment. Few integration workshops in France are tailored to women’s needs—Rejoué fills this gap with a supportive and adapted work environment.
• Educational and awareness-raising actions: Rejoué not only recycles toys but also engages communities—schools, families, and institutions—in understanding the importance of reuse, solidarity, and environmental responsibility.
• Affordable access to quality toys: Its model ensures that toys, often seen as non-essential or luxury items, become accessible to all children, supporting equal opportunities in early childhood development.
  
  This holistic approach makes Rejoué a unique actor at the crossroads of social innovation, environmental sustainability, and circular economy.

Key results and benefits

Environmental impact: Over 35 tons of toys are saved from landfill each year through collection, sorting, and reuse, significantly reducing waste and promoting circular economy practices.
Social inclusion: Rejoué supports around 70 people per year through its integration workshop, with a majority of participants being women. Many of them move on to stable employment or vocational training thanks to personalized support and skills development. 
Access to quality toys: Thousands of refurbished toys are made available each year at affordable prices or through donations, helping families in need and supporting early childhood development.
Community engagement and awareness: Rejoué organizes toy drives, awareness campaigns, and educational workshops, reaching schools, families, and institutions to promote responsible consumption and solidarity.
 

In France we created the network Rejouons Solidaire. The network currently brings together 13 member organizations across 10 French regions.
 

Potential for mainstreaming

Rejoué’s model has strong potential for replication and scaling across different territories and sectors. Its innovative approach—combining circular economy, social inclusion, and access to essential goods—responds to universal challenges such as waste reduction, unemployment, and social inequality.

The operational processes developed by Rejoué (collection, sorting, quality control, cleaning, and resale of toys) are replicable and adaptable to other regions. Moreover, the model can be extended to other product categories (e.g. childcare items, books, games), reinforcing its broader relevance.

To support the dissemination of this model, Rejoué initiated the creation of a national network called Rejouons Solidaire. This network brings together and supports actors involved in socially responsible reuse of toys and childhood equipment. It provides guidance, resources, and collective tools to structure the sector and foster cooperation, making large-scale replication more feasible.

Rejoué also demonstrates how integration workshops can be adapted to better include women, addressing a structural gap in the current inclusion offer in France and beyond. This makes it a pioneering and transferable example for inclusive employment policies.

Finally, the growing public interest in sustainable consumption and the circular economy creates a favorable context for mainstreaming. With adequate support and partnerships, Rejoué’s model has been scaled nationally and could be scaled internationally, inspiring a new generation of social enterprises.