Green business spotlight: recycling and remaking

Who would have thought the polystyrene that packaged your new television could have a second life as a Korean coat hanger!

Socially aware entrepreneur Chris O’Brien had the foresight to make this possible. He invented a machine comically named “The Hungry Giant” that breaks down and recycles polystyrene foam.

He expressed “the initial driving force for the development of the idea and the business was to divert this material from landfill. With waste companies aware of technology like ours, yet not embracing it because it reduces their volumes of pickups, we were and still are driven by the goal of diversion from landfill.”

Now, you may be thinking, I’m not going to get a large green giant into my house to chomp the odd bit of poly waste, and that’s frankly fair enough. But for goods manufacturers and distributors it is a very environmentally and cost effective way to dispose of large amounts of polystyrene that has traditionally been dumped in landfill. (That takes a monumental 500 years to break down)

So how does this munching machine actually work?
It’s a simple four step process:

1. It granulates the poly beads
2. Compresses material without releasing toxins
3. Compacts the waste into re-useable blocks
4. Exported to Asia to be used in hard plastics (reincarnated as a coat hanger)

To kick start this innovative concept Chris applied for the COMET (Commercialisation of Emerging Technology ) grant from AusIndustry. Hungry Giant received an $80,000 grant which was imperative in getting the business off the ground.

“It has allowed Hungry Giant access to fantastic resources that we would not have otherwise had the financial resources to access. A difficult process, but at the same time, if you have an innovative idea, then serious consideration is worthwhile.”

This funding has been well spent, this is a business that is not only reducing landfill; it is re-using existing materials to create new products. In my mind, a pretty nifty machine and a resourceful business idea!

Hungry Giant
www.hungrygiant.com.au

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