BOULDER - Five years ago a lot of companies were starting to think about the benefits of going green. Steve Savage, on the other hand, was thinking about growing green - growing green big time.
So it is that Eco-Products, a Boulder-based business-to-business distributor of environmentally friendly products, became a national manufacturer of biodegradable single-use food service items, products that are designed to dissolve in compost.
The company has taken a leading role in the production of zero-waste disposables such as cutlery, plates, trays and
straws.
Eco-Products' revenue increased 535 percent from $5.8 million in 2006 to $36.5 million in 2008, placing it No. 1 on the Boulder County Business Report's 2009 Mercury 100 Fastest-Growing Companies list for firms reporting annual revenue of more than $2 million.
Savage, who co-founded the company with his father, Kent, more than 18 years ago, said they grew the company organically, mostly with their own cash flow and some outside capital, a $2 million investment from Greenmount Capital Partners in Boulder.
The growth has come because Eco-Products began manufacturing eco-friendly products and divested itself of the distribution business. Cen Tex, a 57-year-old Boulder distributor, was one of the businesses that took over Eco-Product's distribution accounts. Centex President Tom McCarthy said Colorado accounts have been quick to pick up on the Eco-Products line.
Savage said after 15 years on the "treadmill" of distributing other people's products he also was tired of being told where he could sell goods.
Eco-Products manufactures its products in South Korea, China and Taiwan, and Savage said there are ongoing efforts to reduce carbon footprints and enhance other sustainable manufacturing practices at those locations.
The products used by Eco-Products largely come from residues of corn products and sugar cane. Only the stalks remaining from sugar production are used in the plates manufactured by Eco-Products.
The corn bioplastic (polylactide or PLA) is used in a great many products including clear plastic cups, straws, carrying trays, the clam shells favored by fast-food restaurants that largely were manufactured out of Styrofoam and the lining of paper cups for hot drinks and soup. Eco-Products has a partnership with Nature Works LLC in Minneapolis, which manufactures PLA and other bioplastics in processes that are extensively reviewed through life-cycle analysis.
"PLA is made mostly from the dextrose and starch, which are not the favored by-products of the corn kernel, so our prices aren't really affected by corn prices," Savage said. Nor is the price affected by oil prices, which have a direct impact on the price of producing traditional plastics.
