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"Strategon
client the next Richard Branson"! Hear Chris O'Brien form the Hungry Giant
talk about working with Strategon Director Damian Chown and the benefits of
business planning."
http://www.abc.net.au/catapult/sound/podcast/youngguns/20090309_2461680.mp3
A waste-eating giant
Chris O'Brien is turning polystyrene waste into a giant of a business.
The story so far...
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Who: Chris O'Brien
Where: Sydney
Company: The Hungry Giant
What they've done: Invented a polysterene recycling machine
"Polysterene idles in landfill for 500 years
before it begins to break down, so this is a huge environmental
nightmare. So I started to look for a way to process it.”
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Chris O'Brien describes the moment he came up with the idea that is now his full-time business as a "brain fart".
Working at a retail outlet, he noticed how much polysterene was going into the bin.
"Polysterene
idles in landfill for 500 years before it begins to break down, so this
is a huge environmental nightmare," he says. "You have people that work
on the front face of landfill and they are paid to sift through rubbish
and grab as much of this as they can, but that is so labour intensive.
"I
started thinking that there's got to be another solution out there.
There's got to be some sort of recycling solution or way that the
product could be treated, and there wasn't. So I started to look for a
way to process it."
O'Brien's first idea was to develop a machine
that would chew the polysterene up into granules that could then be
used as filling in things like bean-bags.
 Image: Courtesy of Hungry Giant |
"We
built our first machine using that idea, and it was a monumental
disaster. There was foam everywhere and it was labour intensive, but
the concept sort of grew from there. We realised we needed to compact
it and turn into a commodity to make it valuable from a recyclers point
of view."
Building the giant
The end product, The Hungry Giant, has taken just over four years to make and commercialise.
It's
been an intense process for Chris, who spent three months living in
China communicating in pigeon English and sign language with engineers
to get his vision built.
The result is " a big green box on
wheels with a silver hopper," says Chris. At two metres long and just
under two metres tall, the Hungry Giant is designed for customers that
don't have much space in their docks.
"It just sits at the back
of a dock. It's a fairly ugly, unattractive piece of equipment, but it
just sits there all day long and munches up your polystyrene and poos
out a big block.
"[Retailers can] save a fortune in waste costs and do their bit for the environment."
Instead of ending up in landfill, the compacted polystyrene is collected and sent off to given a new life.
 Image: Courtesy of Hungry Giant |
"We
are stockpiling the polystyrene and then it is being shipped and
exported to Korea and China where they remanufacture it into
low-density plastic products like camera cases, coat-hangers and
picture frames," says Chris.
According to Chris, one of the most
useful exercises he went through in the commercialisation process was
applying for, and eventually receiving, a government grant.
"It was hard to get. There was a lot of bureaucracy and red tape, but...it was well worth it.
"That
grant allowed us access to invaluable resources like design engineers,
strategic planners, business planners and that's been a great learning
curve.
"The criteria was very stringent as the Government is not
going to lend money to every Tom, Dick and Harry. The idea had to be
unique, we had to have the corporate structure in place, and be
IP-protected. It was quite a long process and it took quite a lot of
investment. You can't just walk in and say: 'Hey can I have some money
to develop an idea'."
The Hungry Giant recently got Patent
Co-operation Treaty status, which means it is IP-protected in around 40
countries. Chris has 17 Hungry Giants, which can be rented or bought
for around $16,000, chewing up polystyrene around the country. Plans
are afoot to get the Hungry Giant distributed into Europe.
Disrupting waste
The Hungry Giant machine is just the start. Chris is also working on expanding the services his business offers.
 Image: Courtesy of Hungry Giant |
"We're
launching our waste services business, so Hungry Giant would become a
consolidated waste service provider. [Retailers] will be in a position
to deal with one company," he says.
"So instead of having someone
deal with general waste, someone take their 'poly', someone take the
cardboard etc, we would supply all the existing equipment and services.
It would be a one-stop shop."
An avid reader of business books,
Chris is hoping that his expanded business will become what is
described in business parlance as an "industry disrupter", changing the
way waste management services are run.
"Long-term we will be a pain in the backside for waste companies," says Chris.
"The
waste companies want to pick up as frequently as they can from you,
because the more they pick up the more the charge you. We want to
reverse that whole business model. We want to pick up less and provide
you with the ability to compact and create commodity out of waste at
the source.
"That's what's in the best interests of the
customer and ultimately is a green solution. If you can reduce the
amount of trucks on the road, and reduce the cost associated with
running landfill and extend the life of landfill by diverting material
form landfill, then why not?"
abc.net.au
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