Enviro Associated Products

Sustainable Food and Hygiene Solutions

Business View Oceania interviews Bryan Lee and Wesley Chai of Enviro Associated Products for our Clean and Green focus.

Enviro Associated Products (EAP) is a dedicated provider of environmentally sustainable, FSC certified food and hygiene paper products for businesses and end users across Australia, New Zealand, Russia, and Singapore. Founded in late 2011, EAP began as a small business supplying eco-friendly paper solutions for other businesses and organisations in Sydney, Australia. EAP has maintained exceptional growth since their beginning; over the last decade, annual turnover for the company has grown to approximately 1 million to almost 30 million, boasting a significant territorial spread across four nations. EAP is big on research, development, and innovation; core values that have served them very well to date.

The Enviro Associated Products team advertises and sells napkins, paper towels, toilet paper, tissues, tidy bags, bin liners, hot cups, industrial wipes, dispensers, sanitisers, and disinfectants under eight comprehensive brands, each with specifications to suit a certain purpose. Veora Exclusive’s TAD towel range is FSC certified and designed for environments that require high-quality, luxurious products, such as high-end washrooms and hotels. The Veora Everyday range also boasts an FSC certification. It is designed to be applicable across a wide range of environments, is responsibly sourced, and very cost-effective. Ecoz is a solution designed for high-volume facilities. With a certified recycled range, Ecoz is a popular choice for eco-conscious clients. The Duflex brand provides sustainable packaging alternatives for businesses. EAP has high hopes for sustainable packaging throughout the industry in the near future, and the team has plans to be an early adoptee of sustainable packaging themselves. Neutra, WhiteSilk, and Elyptol are focussed on softness and visual appeal, and have ingredients that are gentle on the skin.

The newest range from Enviro Associated Products, CovidgenCare came about as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The CovidgenCare solution is water-based, non-toxic, free of alcohol, and will not cause stains. The product uses a ‘physical kill’ process to prevent cell mutation and the subsequent development of superbugs. EAP proudly supplies CovidgenCare as a replacement for other products in the market that contain potentially dangerous poisons, chemicals, and alcohol.

At the time of Enviro Associated Products’ launch into the market (2013), the company was one of only two major players with FSC certification. Bryan Lee, Managing Director of EAP, says that this differentiation was a key component in their growth, and continues to be a great selling point for the business. Joining him is General Manager, Wesley Chai. “Along with the depth of our range and how comprehensive it is in meeting our customers’ needs, we are FSC certified, and that really makes us stand out in the market. What we see in the market is a lot of companies that are very strong in their specific area, but may not be FSC certified and certainly don’t have the range that we do. We design our paper products according to the requirements of their sector. Are they being used for hygiene and cleaning? Facilities management? Or high traffic areas, like schools, hospitals, and government buildings? The environment of the product and how it is used really effects how we make it. We also provide custom printing so that corporate businesses can brand everything from letterheads to napkins.”

A team of 11, Enviro Associated Products is deeply committed to environmental sustainability; it’s in the name, after all. Specific applications of environmental best practice within the company are quite unique and beneficial to EAP as well as their clients. EAP supports product portion control through comprehensive dispersal systems, particularly for high traffic environments like washrooms, which minimises waste, saves costs, and encourages best practices in clients themselves. EAP market their FSC certification heavily to educate the general public and encourage other suppliers in the market to become certified, and work directly with clients to develop new eco-conscious alternatives and approaches. Chai elaborates, “We really work with the customer and try to help them identify gaps or untapped opportunities in their market and ours. In that respect, there are quite a few skills and ideas that we actually developed in collaboration with clients. EAP do not want to be just another paper provider. What we want is to present a full solution to our clients that is sustainable, cost-efficient, and readily available.”

Headquarters for Enviro Associated Products is in Sydney, Australia, but contracted sale representatives and distributors have a solid foundation throughout every Australian state, including Tasmania. With a strong foothold in New Zealand since 2019, and more recent business ventures showing success in Russia and Singapore, EAP has shown their ability to appeal and deliver to the international market. Lee explains their innovative solution to skyrocketing costs of shipping and transport in Australia. “We have actually arranged our shipments directly from our overseas partners to distribution locations in each state, rather than having our warehouse be a changeover point. Our freight and load expenses in Australia are very expensive; easily double what we see America and Asia. Moving product around is a very costly exercise. Paper products are also very bulky in terms of comparative value; they are a high volume, low value product. So how we manage the transport and distribution of our goods, those logistics are incredibly important and play a big part in maintaining our competitiveness in the market. And the leaner and more efficient we are in that department, the less we contribute to emissions, pollution, etcetera. So that’s also big part of why we work the way we do.”

Running an international operation under multiple brands does not come without challenges, however. Lee and Chai recall that, in the early days, public awareness about the importance of certification was concerningly low. Enviro Associated Products decided to step up and take responsibility for the education of their customers on topics such as what FSC certification was, why EAP decided to become certified, and the impacts that have followed, both for EAP and their customers. Today, FSC certification has become well-known, and can be found more commonly across the country. Lee says that the team at EAP was glad to see knowledge and adoption of the process increase.

A huge project in the works at Enviro Associated Products is the aim to completely remove plastic from their supply chain ecosystem in the next five years. This includes single use plastics like packaging, packing protection, bindings, dividers, and so on. Chai shares that this is the biggest initiative from EAP, and it is part of their ‘sustainability beyond compliance’ outlook. “We want to be sustainable beyond compliance. This means that not only is our product legally certified, and not only are we following government initiatives in removing and reducing plastic; we are taking the lead and making decisions to move forward in these matters for reasons other than just meeting our legal requirements. We are encouraging others to do the same. You can already see the paper mills of some big brands in Europe moving in the right direction. So we plan to follow suit and get the ball rolling in our area, too.” EAP is also working on new products, including plant-based paper cups, which they hope to release to the commercial market next year.

A small yet highly successful team, staff at Enviro Associated Products provide comprehensive, cost-effective, innovative, and sustainable paper product solutions for businesses and end-users across Australia, New Zealand, Russia, and Singapore. Senior representatives are confident in the company’s ability to deliver high-quality, customer-focussed products as the industry continues to evolve, and are excited to adapt to any and all challenges the future may bring.

AT A GLANCE

Enviro Associated Products

What: Provider of sustainable hygiene and food related paper products across Australia.

Where: Enviro Associated Products is headquartered in Pendle Hill, Australia.

Website: https://enviro-products.com.au/

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