Three years ago a young man stared at truck-full after truck-full of polystyrene leaving the electronics store where he worked. The polystyrene was headed straight for the landfill and for Chris O’Brien that was not the right thing to do. O’Brien believed a successful business had integrity and ethics and was responsible for their actions, and that included their waste and how they disposed of it.

O’Brien was not only ecologically minded and environmentally conscious, but he was an entrepreneur too. Chris developed an EPS compactor machine called the Hungry Giant that could compact polystyrene on site. Because the substance is 98% air he was able to squash large amounts down into relatively tiny blocks. The bottom line was: less to move meant fewer trips, which meant money saved. His environmentally conscious mind had just sparked a successful business.

O’Brien invented and commercialised a machine that changed the waste removal industry in Australia forever, and significantly reduced the amount of waste going into landfill.

The “Good Guys“ were the first of many bulk goods stores to start using his machine and reported instant financial savings and reduced environmental impact. They were closely followed by a construction company that wanted to reduce waste from building sites.

Frustrated by the lack of ‘green’ initiative within the waste industry, and determined to show there was a better way, Chris again came up with his own solution and launched a revolutionary waste collection service with full recycling and diversion from landfill. His company offers a variety of waste management solutions, and instead of charging on the volume of waste collected from a client’s workplace, the company charges for the use of onsite recycling equipment, thus reducing processing costs and, in many cases, trips to landfill.

A revolutionary approach to a previously volume based system, coupled with a successful business model, is helping keep Australia clean and green.