Lateral thinking cements winner

By ELLEN READ

The Sky Tower is made of concrete and weighs 21,000 tonnes - the equivalent of 6000 elephants.

If it had been made of Plascrete it would have been up to 8400 tonnes lighter - that's a saving of 2400 elephants. It would also have been just as strong, yet more flexible.

Plascrete - produced when a plastic aggregate replaces the gravel component in concrete - is the invention of entrepreneur Peter Barrow.

An inventor and former aircraft technician with 10 years' experience in the aviation industry, Mr Barrow has been self-employed since 1985 in a variety of businesses, from retail to distribution.

In early 1993 he formed AA Plastics, repairing aviation, automotive and industrial plastic components, which later became Enviroplas Industries.

From there, Mr Barrow looked at other uses for plastic and came up with the idea of grinding up waste plastic for use in concrete.

The company, based in Papakura, now has around a dozen staff.

"I came across the idea of using plastic as an aggregate for concrete. I did a world patent search and no one had done it before," Mr Barrow said.

"If you don't have the potential to grow [in business], you die. So I just kept looking at ways to do things."

At the end of 1996, Mr Barrow got a provisional patent on Plascrete in New Zealand, and registered the product in 1999. His company now holds provisional patents in 14 countries, including Australia, Japan, the United States, Mexico and Canada, and in Europe.

Mr Barrow has just sold the first international licence - to Plascrete UK - and hopes to sell more worldwide.

He is also looking for more investment in the company, hiring ABN Amro to help find venture capital.

"The biggest need now is for investment to drive it forward," Mr Barrow said.

He wants to raise $1.6 million from private investors and plans to eventually float the company.

Plascrete costs about the same as concrete - a standard paver of either sells for $18-$20 a square metre.

Mr Barrow said total sales figures were not yet available. But he was selling 100 tonnes of aggregate a month.

Apart from the weight savings, Plascrete adds another dimension to traditional concrete - flexibility.

There is also a saving in manufacturing, handling and transport. Its lighter weight causes less wear on mixing Machines and it is easier to pump and transport.

And it puts waste plastic to good use. Mr Barrow's company can accept between 50 and 70 tonnes of plastic waste a month - enough to cover Eden Park to a depth of half a metre. And because he can conveniently dispose of their waste, Mr Barrow can charge companies to supply him with the raw material he needs.

The company has had approaches from overseas firms, including one in Sao Paulo that is interested in taking a licence.

It has caught the interest of the Chinese Government for waste reduction at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.