Interview
James, in Ecogen’s corporate video you mention that you have gone through a huge expansion over the last ten years. What is the secret behind your success?
We do the basics very well. What I mean by that is paying people on time and doing what you promise. There are a lot of cowboys in our industry, so we try to do everything properly. We collect the material on time, communicate closely with our customers, and make it easy for them to contact us to collect their waste.
Quite often we find competing with the traditional big four waste companies easy. Customers hate having to keep explaining who they are, the type of waste material they have, and their pricing structure. With us, our customers talk to the same account manager, who already knows all this information. That makes life a lot easier for our customers.
We are still pretty new to the market (twelve years), so we need to keep fighting to conquer a market share. We are hungry in that sense. We want to continue expanding whilst retaining the same company values that our customers know and like.
For us, it is key to reinvest profits to create increased efficiency and capacity. In the last decade, we moved locations twice to keep up with the demand. That way we get the best value for our customers. We see it as a reinvestment in the long-term relationships between us and our customers.

You mentioned that getting the best value for your customers is particularly important, how do you manage that?
By increasing the efficiency and capacity of our sites, we can reduce the percentage of overhead cost per tonne and pass it back as a rebate. Many companies pocket the difference and I get that, but we want to give back to our customers. You can quickly see who is in this business for the quick wins or who is in this for servicing the needs of their customers long-term.

You have recently replaced the old baler with a refurbished Bollegraaf HBC120S, what were the driving reasons behind this decision?
We decided as a company that we need three balers for redundancy, we just cannot be in a position where we turn material away due to machinery downtime. It was time to upgrade our main press and a 1-tonne bale had always been of interest. Your HBC120S came on the market, and we could not resist.
You already had two balers from another baler manufacturer, what made you choose a Bollegraaf baler over the other manufacturers?
We have a lot of friends in the industry. From what they told me and what I have seen myself, Bollegraaf stood out as the Rolls Royce of the industry. Previously we were not in the financial position to afford one, but now we are.
The Bollegraaf baler stood out for its speed, reliability, and the 1-tonne bales. The 1-tonne bales are a game-changer for us; we can load a shipping container in 20 minutes, and two containers in 35 minutes, compared to the old days when it would take 45 minutes to load one container with 600 kg bales. Now that we have the Bollegraaf baler, the same guy can load twice as much weight in less than half the time.
What difference has the Bollegraaf baler made for Ecogen?
The heavier bales reduce the time that we need to load the containers, but also the time to transport the bales across the yard. You can move nearly twice the weight per trip with two bales (1200kg vs 2000kg). It saves fuel, tire wear and tear, and labor costs.
In terms of throughput, the Bollegraaf baler is simply faster than any of the balers we had before. I used to get quite frustrated when I saw material lying on the belt and the guys just waiting for the belt to clear. With the new baler, there are still times that it happens, but it happens much less. I want the belt to be moving all day, from the start of the shift at 7:00 AM to the end at 5 PM.
What type of material do you bale with the Bollegraaf baler?
Cardboard, mixed paper, and soft plastics in case our plastic baler breaks down. That is why we also have the crosswire option so the Bollegraaf baler can fill that role if necessary.
The Bollegraaf baler makes it easy to switch between cardboard and mixed paper. It allows us to do four to six ejectors of mixed paper a day, which would be impossible with the old baler. We can now push four ejectors through in 3.5 hours and then we have the rest of the day to do the rest of the baling.
What is the future ambition of Ecogen? To further improve customer experience, expand your service area, or both?
We will evolve further to get the best value for our customers. We will also continue to invest in the long-term relationship with our existing customers, while also trying to bring in new customers based between the South of England and Wales up to the Midlands.
To wrap up this interview, could you tell me how you experienced your interaction/contact with Steve Starr, our Baler Sales Manager?
We like Steve. We have socialized quite a lot at various recycling events. We always wanted to work with Steve, but we just did not have the means before. From my experience, he is a man of his word and is very honest and transparent about what is possible and what is not. That is very much how we like to do business.