Hazardous and regulated waste collection, recycling and disposal is at the heart of Pure Environmental’s service offering. Whether it be chemicals, liquid waste, organics or contaminated soil, Pure offers solutions that other companies shy away from due to the nature of these waste streams.
While Pure is still in the business of processing/disposing of hazardous and regulated wastes, there is more it can do to help the sector.
Dr Karl Baltpurvins is the company’s CEO. He realised that the company could take that extra step further and help customers delve a little deeper into what can be done with regulated and hazardous wastes.
“Historically, a lot of how this stuff would work – like wastewater treatment, for instance – was that somebody would inquire about a commoditised quantity of waste (eg 1,000 litres of oily water, a drum of acid, or can of paint) and you simply gave them a quote to bring it in and dispose of it,” he said. “What I’ve found over 25-odd years of working in this industry is that there are a lot of complex projects and materials out there that really require a different lens, where the customer really has a problem that they want solved.”
What Pure Environmental is trying to do, he said, is find solutions to its customers’ problems, instead of just doing the basics. It might involve a lot more project management, such as going out to a customer’s site and identifying material or packaging and doing a risk assessment.
It might involve complex logistics, such as loading or cleaning material. It is also focussed on its customers’ ESG objectives that typically favour recycling over landfill disposal
“What we’re trying to present is more of an integrated solutions-based business,” he said. “To that end, we’ve been employing and developing a broad range of people to try and meet that change in the market. We’ve got a lot of resources in terms of people, plant, equipment and processing to be able to cater to that.”
As well as disposal specialists, the company also has scientists and engineers on its books to help solve some of these problems. He said the key is teamwork – employing a variety of people who can complement each other’s skill sets to find working solutions for customers.
“In the past, I’ve found very heavily technically focused people often don’t think commercially and don’t communicate necessarily that well,” he said. “We’ve really focused on getting a team together that can come up with not only technically competent solutions, but ones that are also commercially viable, proven and provide good outcomes to our customers. Around 15 per cent of our workforce is technical skilled – scientists and engineers – and we also employ other skilled people such as health, safety and environmental experts, accountants, technical sales and communications experts – the whole range of specialised operational people – who are trying to bring those technical skills into the business and applying them to a business framework.”
He said one of the key features Pure is able to offer is communicating what can be complex ideas in an easy-to-understand manner for the client. This especially applies to other stakeholders, such as the various regulators around the country who are often working in conjunction with Pure’s clients.
“That client could be a multinational, or it could be a small business and could be working in remediation or demolition,” said Baltpurvins. “It’s being able to configure the answer to suit the client and to suit the stakeholders, which I think is really important. We’re also finding a lot of our stakeholders and clients are looking for ESG-focused solutions.
“We’re particularly focused on reduction of environmental impacts to human health and the environment – that’s the core of our service. If we can convey that well, we’re able to align with those ESG practices and get a better outcome for everyone.”
Having been in the role for more than two years, Baltpurvins has seen a change in how clients view the company. He sees Pure as a think tank with a technical committee that can review any complex queries when it comes to hazardous waste. The company is also expanding its footprint. With Australia crying out for processing facilities, Pure is developing its portfolio of assets to complement its existing operations in Queensland and Western Australia. He’s hoping for a national footprint in the near future.
Pure did start out as a series of small businesses, but Baltpurvins and his team have brought them under one brand “Pure”. And for good reason, too.
“There were a few reasons we did that, including embedding them with our common systems and platform so we’re operating on the same quality management system, right across the entire framework,” he said. “We’ve found it’s really hard to grow if you don’t have an integrated business – you’ve got to have the spine of the business straight before you can grow – and that’s where we are now.”
The importance of culture
Like any successful business, culture is at the core of what Pure does on a day-to-day basis. Finding a person with the right skill set is not that hard, but finding someone aligned to your values and being great at their job can be more difficult.
But Baltpurvins is adamant that buying into what the company is trying to achieve is just as important as the skill set they bring to the job.
“In the beginning, it was really hard to attract high-quality talent,” he said. “What we’ve found is that as the business has gained in scale and reputation, it’s been easier to recruit good people.
“We’ve also developed a very values-driven culture, which we have embedded, which means we’ve provided a lot of ownership to our employees, so they’ve had an impact on the operation and success of the company. People are now coming to us looking for roles, and we’ve been able to get a lot of the key people within the industry to come and work for us. If you can keep that culture, you’ve got half a chance of success – it’s been a very valuable feature for the business.
“There’s nothing worse than working for someone who is completely misaligned with the way that you work.”
It’s been a good period of growth for Pure Environmental, but every step has been purposeful.
Baltpurvins and his team know that building something worthwhile takes a bit of time, and not rushing is something that they take into consideration when making decisions.
“We’ve been very careful to not over scale – you’ve got to finish something before you start five new things,” he said. “We’ve just been really careful with our strategy, which is really about team development. We’ve worked really hard at that for two years, and we’re now starting to see the fruits of our labour.”