Lynx Doing Away With Single-Use Plastic in its Packaging

[GolfSpy Barbajo]

This is a pretty interesting story. There's an awful lot of plastic in golf packaging that isn't recyclable, and from my conversations with Steve and Stephanie, they do things their own way and this is one of those moves that seems to be a kind of no-brainer. They're a pretty small, privately-owned company, so if they're willing to absorb whatever short-term financial hit they make - if there is one - then good on them. 

 

No doubt there's a marketing element to this, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's an empty gesture. 

 

Wonder if other golf companies will follow their lead?  

 

 

 

From August 1st 2018 Lynx Golf will be the 1st Global Golf Brand to remove Single-Use Plastic from their products. Watch the film below to see the full story 👇#greenonthegreens pic.twitter.com/xK1t9uvUxD

— Lynx Golf (@LynxGolfUK) July 10, 2018

[Golfspy_CG2]

Interesting piece.  Although I kinda knew how much plastic on a set of clubs/bag when received, when you see it all laid out like that, it's like....whoa!!   The idea of replacing the plastic with paper for the bags seems like a no brainier.  But unless I missed it did they actually show how they would protect the club-heads going forward?

[downlowkey]

My read: The facility actually manufacturing their equipment send fully assembled plastic wrapped product to Lynx HQ - UK. Lynx removes the plastic wrap and sends "some" of it off to a recycling facility where it is converted into plastic lumber. Lynx replaces the PE plastic with recycled paper before initializing the retailer stage of their supply chain.

 

A - Their warm and fuzzy "film" plainly states only "some" of the PE plastic is recycled; presumably meaning a percentage of the waste is still ending up in landfills for all eternity.

B - Only the latter stages of the supply chain are "single-use plastic free".

C - Lynx intends to send packets of "bee friendly" plant seeds all over the globe, which will likely present as an invasive species in some regions.

D - Lynx doesn't even assemble their own components; _rack_ clubs arrive in the UK fully intact, wrapped in (3) separate plastic pieces.

 

The above leads me to believe a more accurate company press release clickbait blurb might read - "From August 1st 2018 Lynx Golf will be the 1st Global Golf Brand to _remove_ Single-Use Plastic from the _final_ stages of our product supply chain; but we obviously still have a long way to go before honestly claiming to be a single-use plastic free company in our own marketing materials".

 

The facts don't present nearly as rosy a picture laid out without the lilting background score and soft cuts to boardroom whiteboard eco-savior strategizing. To me, this is yet another example of Lynx displaying a penchant for prioritizing image above substance.

[bens197]

Every single time a company makes an environmentally sound decision there is a row of folks who line up to discredit this decision. It's happening here, it happened when Sun Chips made a great new bag that happened to be loud and it's happening now with Starbucks.

 

I know we can't go political but the polarizing opposition to any press release is grossly toxic.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[downlowkey]

Every single time a company makes an environmentally sound decision there is a row of folks who line up to discredit this decision. It's happening here, it happened when Sun Chips made a great new bag that happened to be loud and it's happening now with Starbucks.

 

I know we can't go political but the polarizing opposition to any press release is grossly toxic.

 

Absent a quote, I can only assume your "grossly toxic" comment was directed at me.

 

To be clear, I'm all in on environmental stewardship. But when a company proffers public perception kool-aid, I'm not the type to gulp it down before researching the ingredients myself. In this case, the reality doesn't really match their overarching claim. I fail to see how rationally evaluating the claims within any company's marketing materials could be construed as "political" or "toxic". Evaluating the marketing claims of golf equipment manufacturers is the reason Adam started MyGolfSpy. In his initial post, Barba even quietly referenced the possibility this Lynx directed film may not actually present evidence of substantive company policy progress.

 

If you're willing to share, I'm happy to consider any constructive commentary you would characterize as validation of their trendsetting single-use plastic free claims.

[bens197]

 

 

If you're willing to share, I'm happy to consider any constructive commentary you would characterize as validation of their trendsetting single-use plastic free claims.

 

It means they're reducing their plastic consumption.  Unfortunately, we live in a world where no good deed can go uncriticized.  

[jaskanski]

Well, it's a start I guess. And someone has to start somewhere with the whole plastic issue - which is a big deal at the moment.

Unfortunately, even with the greatest of intentions, you have to walk the walk that you talk when it comes to play the green card. If, as in this case their commitment to single use plastic is on the one hand commendable, it's does rather ring hollow when it's total "global" use of plastics overshadows this token effort by some margin.

I agree with downlowkey when i read their mission statement and it smacks of nothing more than sabre rattling and image alignment, rather than a resolute commitment to environmental issues. And I agree that Lynx as a brand probably needs more exposure to prop up their rather tame portfolio compared to major others - hence the rather naive nature of their press release. 

Get your house in order first before making claims that are nigh on impossible to mitigate against any environmentalist who has an axe to grind with a "global" (Lynx are kidding, right?) company.

[downlowkey]

It means they're reducing their plastic consumption. Unfortunately, we live in a world where no good deed can go uncriticized.

I would counter that we are fortunate to live in a world where the validity of industry produced eco "films" can be scrutinized.

 

Technically Lynx has made no substantive effort to _reduce_ their supply chain plastic consumption. Every piece of equipment being shipped from their Chinese manufacturer is still arriving at Lynx HQ with the same multiple layers of plastic wrap. "Some" percentage of that PE plastic wrap is subsequently being recycled (into another plastic product) and I think that's great. I am curious what percentage is actually being recycled. As a privately held company they are under no obligation to share that info, so I won't hold my breath.

 

However, recycling "some" PE plastic waste generated from the initial stage in their supply chain is a far cry from the tenor conveyed with the cleverly phrased claim "1st Global Golf Brand to _remove_ SUPs from their products". If they were serious about _reducing_ their supply chain plastic consumption, a drastically different agreement with their manufacturing facility would likely be required.

 

Furthermore, if Lynx had not already demonstrated a willingness to operate in the gray areas of equipment marketing subterfuge, I'd cut them some slack. But now faced with misleading packaging claims, if we don't hold their feet to the fire, the company has no incentive to actually "reduce their plastic consumption" because the market already believes it has been satisfactorily accomplished. And Lynx did it first - yay for them! I would have absolutely zero problem if their statement read: "Lynx Golf is leading industry efforts to _recycle_ (??%) of the SUP waste generated within their global supply chain". As it stands, I remain firmly in the camp believing Lynx is far more concerned with the optics than actually shooting straight with the public on the subject of their environmental stewardship policies.

[bens197]

I would counter that we are fortunate to live in a world where the validity of industry produced eco "films" can be scrutinized.

 

Technically Lynx has made no substantive effort to _reduce_ their supply chain plastic consumption. Every piece of equipment being shipped from their Chinese manufacturer is still arriving at Lynx HQ with the same multiple layers of plastic wrap. "Some" percentage of that PE plastic wrap is subsequently being recycled (into another plastic product) and I think that's great. I am curious what percentage is actually being recycled. As a privately held company they are under no obligation to share that info, so I won't hold my breath.

 

However, recycling "some" PE plastic waste generated from the initial stage in their supply chain is a far cry from the tenor conveyed with the cleverly phrased claim "1st Global Golf Brand to _remove_ SUPs from their products". If they were serious about _reducing_ their supply chain plastic consumption, a drastically different agreement with their manufacturing facility would likely be required.

 

Furthermore, if Lynx had not already demonstrated a willingness to operate in the gray areas of equipment marketing subterfuge, I'd cut them some slack. But now faced with misleading packaging claims, if we don't hold their feet to the fire, the company has no incentive to actually "reduce their plastic consumption" because the market already believes it has been satisfactorily accomplished. And Lynx did it first - yay for them! I would have absolutely zero problem if their statement read: "Lynx Golf is leading industry efforts to _recycle_ (??%) of the SUP waste generated within their global supply chain". As it stands, I remain firmly in the camp believing Lynx is far more concerned with the optics than actually shooting straight with the public on the subject of their environmental stewardship policies.

Based upon this word salad I think you'd rather hear yourself talk. Thank you for sparing me from being dragged into further debate.

[bens197]

Based upon this word salad I think you'd rather hear yourself talk. Thank you for sparing me from being dragged into further debate.

You're clearly well versed in the language, I just don't have the fortitude to do battle.

[txgolfjunkie]

Reducing some of your single-use plastic and Starbucks getting rid of plastic straws and European nations doing away disposable silverware is all good and fine, but that represents less than 2% of the worlds consumption of various plastics. 

 

I'm employed by an oil and gas company and 98.5% of our refined various plastic feedstocks are shipped to Asia and return back to America in all sorts of products. Plastic bottles, silverware, bags, etc are barely scratching the surface. Auto parts, scientific instruments, cell phone parts, medical devices, packaging, etc are your biggest chunks of the PET, PVC, and PP plastics. 

 

I applaud any company that believes in reducing waste but it needs to be legit and not some PR move to give you the warm and fuzzies. 

[steve99]

My read: The facility actually manufacturing their equipment send fully assembled plastic wrapped product to Lynx HQ - UK. Lynx removes the plastic wrap and sends "some" of it off to a recycling facility where it is converted into plastic lumber. Lynx replaces the PE plastic with recycled paper before initializing the retailer stage of their supply chain.

 

A - Their warm and fuzzy "film" plainly states only "some" of the PE plastic is recycled; presumably meaning a percentage of the waste is still ending up in landfills for all eternity.

B - Only the latter stages of the supply chain are "single-use plastic free".

C - Lynx intends to send packets of "bee friendly" plant seeds all over the globe, which will likely present as an invasive species in some regions.

D - Lynx doesn't even assemble their own components; _rack_ clubs arrive in the UK fully intact, wrapped in (3) separate plastic pieces.

 

The above leads me to believe a more accurate company press release clickbait blurb might read - "From August 1st 2018 Lynx Golf will be the 1st Global Golf Brand to _remove_ Single-Use Plastic from the _final_ stages of our product supply chain; but we obviously still have a long way to go before honestly claiming to be a single-use plastic free company in our own marketing materials".

 

The facts don't present nearly as rosy a picture laid out without the lilting background score and soft cuts to boardroom whiteboard eco-savior strategizing. To me, this is yet another example of Lynx displaying a penchant for prioritizing image above substance.

 

 

[steve99]

There are so many inaccuracies here with people stating facts they have no clue about. Lynx brings in all their clubs in component form. If you want to knock this then go ahead, but please at least do it with known facts, not opinions based on ignorance

[russtopherb]

There are so many inaccuracies here with people stating facts they have no clue about. Lynx brings in all their clubs in component form. If you want to knock this then go ahead, but please at least do it with known facts, not opinions based on ignorance

 

Say, you wouldn't happen to be Steve the CEO of Lynx by any chance, would you?

 

Just curious...

[jaskanski]

The problem is this:

Lynx are trying a well known and well used marketing ploy called "consumer alignment". It basically tries to empathise with a defined consumer type by stating that they are "on trend" with the latest fears or aspirations of it's target audience.

In the case of green and low carbon issues, this is a big deal because it also means a lot to certain consumers who think the same way. 

So when faced with a choice of an ordinary OEM or an OEM who allegedly "cares about the environment", the "green" consumer tends to empathise or "align" with that OEM for what they claim.

The problem is, if you dig a bit further, you find out that the total carbon footprint from the same OEM is just as bad, if not worse than anyone else because they are made in "not so green" China with mass pollution from start to finish. And it then makes your original choice a little disingenuous, given the level of waste produced to get from the factory to your golf bag.

If Lynx really cared that much about the environment as a whole, they would only make them in the country with the greenest environmental policy and most efficient shipping method. Unfortunately, this is not the case as with most other consumer goods. 

Car companies are committed to electric cars but still have no qualms about selling you a gas guzzler.

Apple have a low carbon policy but have yet to come up with a solution to offset the carbon generated by charging the 200 billion or so of their products.

So we're left with the end user who needs to be the responsible person. They need to recycle and dispose of waste properly and live greener lives. If you simply kept your single use plastic waste from a set of their irons you purchased and put it in a bag and left it in your golf bag, there wouldn't be a problem.

But instead, Lynx would have you believe they're doing their bit by making a token gesture of a global issue that is currently in public news domain right now. I'd like to see if the steel in the irons and rubber in the grips were equally considerately sourced to make a difference to anyone who had half a brain could give a s**t a bout. I doubt it. But the golf business is pretty cynical when it comes marketing and it will make all sorts of hilarious claims to get some small chance of consumer alignment, particularly when the product in question is small fry compared to it's market leaders.

If you want to feel good about yourself because Lynx has removed a few grams of plastic, I'm happy for you. 

[chisag]

... I am of the opinion that every little bit helps. I use as little plastic as humanly possible, have 5 reusable bags in my car and refuse to buy product that is encased in unnecessary plastic. I always say "No straw" in restaurants or they will bring you one. I never care if any movement is publicity based or environmentally based, as long as they make some strides. I do not have the time or inclination to argue with anyone saying "So much waste from other countries and industries ..." We do what we can do when we can do it. I always figure if there are a million out there all over the world like me, doing what they can, it will certainly make a difference. And if there are more, we are turning the tide.