Swedish clean up (hktdc.com)


	Hans Strom, CEO Envac Asia, is leveraging Hong Kong's proximity to China

Envac is a company which helps to bury your problems – waste problems that is. The Swedish company with 30 offices in 16 countries provides environmentally sustainable waste handling and according to the head of its Asian operations, Hong Kong holds the key to its successful strategy in the Asia Pacific region.

Hans Strom, CEO Envac Asia Holdings Ltd, set up the Hong Kong office in 1991 and it became a full resource office in 1998. Hong Kong was Envac's first office in Asia and it has rapidly expanded to become the head office for its eight Asian operations in Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea, the Chinese mainland (Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing) and the Middle East (Dubai).

"Our businesses in Asia report to Hong Kong which takes care of the product development, management, design, procurement, sales and training. We keep our core technology in Hong Kong and have set up the Envac Asia Academy in the city to do in-house training for our engineers from all over Asia," said Mr Strom.

Envac has developed a technology using sealed underground transport system for waste. Just as one installs underground systems for sewage, water, electricity and telephone lines, one can similarly install an underground vacuum system for waste collection. Mr Strom said that 15 to 20 years ago, nobody had heard about sustainable waste collection so it was very difficult to get people and governments interested. "Now, improving the urban environment is on everybody's agenda so it is easier to market our automated waste collection system." Hospitals, airports and restaurants – places which generate enormous volumes of waste – would do very well with this type of invisible waste solution.

Ideal regional hub

Mr Strom said that Hong Kong was selected as the entry point for Asia in the early 1990s for a number of reasons. "There was high density, a hot and humid climate which made refuse handling extra challenging, great interest from the government to improve waste handling and the way of doing business was similar to that in Europe."

Hong Kong, he added, is ideal as a regional base. "It is quick and easy to start a business and easy to get all kinds of licences. It is well supported by an efficient legal framework and taxation system, an excellent infrastructure and most important of all, skilled, loyal and trusted staff." Hong Kong has 35 staff and there are nearly 200 staff in the other Asian offices.

Mr Strom is very bullish about Envac's future in Asia provided external factors like the economy are favourable. "We have built the momentum in South Korea, Singapore and China with Hong Kong driving the regional operation. On our current HK$1 billion (US$129 million) turnover in Asia, we hope to increase by fourfold in the coming years."

High growth markets

He said it is an achievable target as collection constitutes between 50-80 per cent of the cost of waste handling. "We do more business in Asia than Europe because of the density of the areas and more buildings are coming up. The start-up time is so much faster than when we first began more than a decade ago. Now, everybody is geared towards improving the environment and what better way to start than waste disposal."

Sales in the mainland are doing very well especially in Guangzhou followed by Beijing, Shanghai, Qingdao, Xiamen and a host of other Chinese cities.

He said Hong Kong's proximity to China is another plus factor. "We have established a network of professional suppliers in the Guangzhou area to procure components needed in Asia and for the Envac world market. About 80 per cent of our components which we send to Europe are from China," he said.