“ Innovation has to happen now.” George, Commercial Director at Red Paddle Co
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Eco-conscious materials At Red, sustainability isn’ t just marketing hype – it’ s central to everything they do. The manufacturing processes aim for zero waste by optimising material use and design for disassembly, incorporating 100 % recyclable virgin plastic components that you can recycle at home( if you ever need to)
Jamie Harman, UK Sales Director for Red, who was instrumental in the design and development of the boards, explained that there’ s a lot that goes into designing a new board that you can’ t see year on year. He said,“ A big bit of what I do is consider what that range looks like? How many boards are in the range to suit paddlers’ needs? Are there any parts of the boards that we could improve? But you only want to change things if it leads to an improvement. I don’ t want just to change it for change’ s sake.”
As a certified B Corp www. bcorporation. net, Red Paddle Co is legally committed to high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability.
Says George Shillito, Commercial Director for Red,“ If we do some testing, and we find out an 8” fin works better than a 9” fin and for years we’ ve been using a 9” fin, there’ s still stock of that 9” fin in the world – it doesn’ t magically disappear. So what happens to that stock? That’ s what we do whenever we make a change, we consider everything up until that point and also everything ahead, can the part be recycled, can it be reused, are there enough spares for ongoing kit maintenance – the list goes on.”
Red boards are built to last using a quality-assured Tec-Air process, which boasts one of the lowest warranty rates in the industry. Durable products minimise their environmental impact.
George says,“ As it is not yet possible to make recyclable boards … at Red, our core values have always been to never compromise on quality and durability. Because the products, if they’ re not recoverable, you need to make them last … with innovation comes a lot of responsibility.”
Changes in product legislation George explains how there is a tremendous amount of change happening in product legislation and policy at the highest level. He says,“ During the pandemic, lots of people wanted to get out outside, especially on the water, and paddleboarding proved a great way to do that. As a result, a huge number of companies, brands, and production houses started producing paddleboards – and fast. It meant the sport became extremely accessible with lots of people
“ Innovation has to happen now.” George, Commercial Director at Red Paddle Co