What do Golf Tees and Cars have in Common
Did you say golf tees made from car parts
That's right, The Naiteev Golf Tee is made from recycled plastic car bumper bars and are recyclable, durable, and designed for high performance on the golf course. These mighty little golf tees are game-changers and planet-savers.
Where and how did this all come about
This all started in 2015 with Boxhead Plastics founder, Bec Healy experimenting with discarded PET plastic bottles, turning this waste into 3d filament.
In 2017, through a series of coincidental encounters, Bec started working with plastic from the automotive industry. It soon became apparent that the Australian automotive industry had little support to manage all of its plastic waste, so Bec set out to find an end solution for this growing plastic problem.
Although cars are made up of a variety of different plastic components, it was decided to target one specific part of the car, polypropylene car bumper bars (which are located at the front and end of all vehicles). Instead of letting these car bumper bars go to landfill, Bec started out by turning the scrap bumpers into hand-crafted boxes. Here is the origin story.
Early trials turn into golf tees
In 2018 Bec enrolled at TAFE NSW to study Polymers and in 2020 graduated as a Polymer Technician and trained injection mould operator. It was during her time at TAFE, the golf tee, made from recycled plastic car bumpers was being trialled. In December 2020 GT recycling purchased 100 boxes of tees, which inspired Bec's entrepreneurial venture towards the Naiteev Golf Tee.
Why waste plastic from cars
Each year 500,000 cars reach their end of life in Australia with 98.1% of automotive plastic waste being disposed of. Most of the directly profitable and salvageable parts happen to be the metal bits. But the fact is, plastic can be salvaged, recycled, and remanufactured also.
Boxhead Plastics, an incorporated not-for-profit social enterprise facilitates pathways for the Australian automotive industry to recycle more scrap plastic car bumpers. Our skilled team has forged a chain of local industry relationships that allow us to collect, recycle and remanufacture polypropylene car bumper bars.
Why only car bumper bars
An average polypropylene car bumper bar can be used to produce about 3000 golf tees. You can do the math on that, that’s a lot of golf tees out of discarded car bumper bars. And our golfers love The Naiteev Golf Tee, have a look at the final product at www.naiteev.com
Polypropylene is a very popular plastic using in many common household items such as shampoo bottles. Polypropylene is a very useful plastic for injection moulding. There is an endless amount of scrap plastic bumper bars that can be collected, recycled and reused. And Polypropylene has great mechanical properties such as flexural strength, resistant to moisture, and great fatigue resistance
Recycled golf tees benefiting the golfing industry
Although the golf game depends on the environment, golf courses are often criticized for their negative impact on their surroundings. From high water usage to pollution caused by fertilizers, the loss of natural habitats, and golf player's litter. The Naiteev Golf Tee offers the golf industry a way to increase its sustainable environmental management of the game.
Golf Australia predicts a steady rise in the population of golfers in Australia and has been witnessed over the years. With more people playing the sport, putting more pressure on the limited resources the game demands, now is the time to focus on sustainability and efforts to decrease the environmental impact of the sport.
What is next for the brand Naiteev
Having sold over 40,000 Golf Tees and recycled 1245 car bumper bars, we intend to keep expanding and growing through sustainable means. Considering the mainstream viability and endless supply of waste polypropylene car bumper bars, Boxhead Plastics has now ventured out to manufacture The Naiteev Drink Coaster and is trialing a number of other new products soon to be released, so watch this space