Nylex ReTh!nk

Nylex is shaking up the gardening category by changing the way people water their gardens.

The plastic in Nylex’s ReTH!NK range are made from at least 70% recycled material, the first of its kind here in Australasia. Throughout the manufacturing process of our products, we are able to collect offcuts as a bi-product of our production. We collect this and recycle this in-house to combine with virgin material to ensure quality and performance of our product is maintained.

We proudly support the use of recycled content in products to encourage a new life for plastic waste that would have instead gone to landfill. Traditional watering hoses and watering tools are made from virgin plastic. To ensure we maintain the Nylex quality and performance standard 70% is the optimized amount of recycled plastic material that could be included. All products in the ReTH!NK range have been tested to perform to Nylex’s strict quality standards.

Alongside our ambitions to increase recycled content in our product we have also done so by using 100% recycled cardboard fibre in our packaging. In addition, all Nylex packaging also now includes icons which advise how to appropriately recycle and dispose.

At Nylex, our products have always focused on being innovative and water wise, and we partner with only ethical factories around the world. Though our ReTH!NK range is narrow now, it is a step forward and we are exploring more ways to reduce waste.

Nylex has also partnered with the Australian Water Association who are Australia’s biggest water network to inspire and drive a sustainable water future.

At Nylex, we want the right choice to be as easy as watering the garden.

Materials

The plastic we use in the ReTH!NK range is waste created the production process. By using waste from the production process, we save this waste from being sent to landfills to never (or rather, very slowly) decompose.

Our commitment to sustainability extends to our packaging which is made from post-consumer recycled material so it is suitable for recycling. We ship low waste and plastic free, reusing boxes and packing materials where we can or FSC certified shipping envelopes that are 100% recyclable.

The Process

By simply changing from virgin material, to waste material generated from the production process, we’re using a waste that we have excess of. At the manufacturing plant, machines wash and crush plastic waste that comes from the manufacturing process of Nylex products leaving nothing but small plastic flakes. The flakes are heated, dried, and cooled, then cut into small resin pellets. Each product in the ReTH!NK range is made from at least 70% of this plastic waste.

Performance

The ReTH!NK range has undergone significant R&D and testing prior to being released. Although the products are made from recycled plastic, they still meet the same performance and quality standards of Nylex’s other products.  We ensure they meet specific tolerances of density and durability, along with anti leak.

Our Makers

Our manufacturer is in Yuyao, China and is a small factory with strict (and fair) working conditions to ensure there is no underage labour, wages are above minimum and leave is paid. There are several reasons why manufacturing our product’s in China makes sense.

1. Better quality control – Manufacturing in China is a huge, competitive industry, which means Nylex can demand the highest standards of quality in the creation of our products.

2. Greater speed and efficiency – China is our choice for manufacturing because their experience producing large volumes of products ensures we can meet customer demand in a timely fashion. Some of the world’s biggest brands use Chinese factories for manufacturing, which means that large orders, strict deadlines, fast turnaround and priority shipping come as standard.

3. Cutting edge technologies – China is the world’s manufacturing hub, which puts them at the cutting edge when it comes to manufacturing technologies. Why ‘reinvent the wheel’ or try to purchase extremely expensive printing tools if we can pay the experts, who already use this equipment every day. We would rather ensure more of our profits stay local, allowing us to offer employment and be able to donate mats to a variety of support services.

4. Cost benefits – We won’t deny it – it is cheaper to manufacture in China than Australia. But rest assured that we do not support ‘cheap and nasty’ manufacturing. We pay a higher than average rate for our production to ensure we use good factories that make high quality products.

The people and factories we work with are carefully selected by Nylex. Many factors are taken into consideration when we decide to take on new suppliers or manufacturers. Some of these factors are:

• Their commitment to environmental issues / Their commitment to their employees / Their work with sustainable materials / Geographical location and economics.
• Pass all internationally approved standards in both social and environmental audits. The international standards for the environmental audits are ISO 14001 and for social responsibility it is SA8000.
• ISO 14001 specifies the requirements for an environmental management system that an organisation can use to enhance its environmental performance.
• SA8000 is an international certification standard that encourages organisations to develop, maintain and apply socially acceptable practices in the workplace and deals with issues such as worker conditions and pay.

We update our audits on a regular basis to ensure that our manufacturing partners are in compliance and if possible even improving upon their last audit. We also visit with each of our suppliers regularly to ensure that our responsibly made principles are being upheld. It is this attention to detail that we hope will give you confidence that any Nylex product you purchase has been sourced with both ethical production and the sustainable support of the environment in mind.