The Real Deal
By Michael Murray
President, Bolder Industries Europe
As a veteran of the waste-to-product industry, I’m often dubious about technology vendor claims. Just give me 10 minutes in any control room and I’ll tell you how good (or not) a system is.
I started Cynar Plc in 2003 with that warm fuzzy feeling that I was going to change the world. I had purchased a promising waste plastic to oil technology from the Far East. My bank account was flush from a telecom sale and I was excited to embark on a new venture. What could possibly go wrong? As it turns out, everything. We ended up having to build technology from the ground up. I spent the majority of my time in a boiler suit and PPE.
We finally turned a corner in 2010. Our technology was producing consistent throughput and consistent quality output. This led to multiple sales globally. I had achieved what I set out to--develop the world’s first commercially successful end-of-life plastic to chemical technology.
I decided it was time for a change and started consultancy work for waste tech start-ups and ultimately banks and investors. Life was great – I was getting paid well and had more time to spend with family, friends, and fun pursuits.
In early 2019 a group of London-based investors brought me on to find a commercially successful scrap-tire to product technology for their UK sites. I was skeptical that I’d find anything but embarked on a whirlwind globetrotting expedition anyway. I visited as many companies as I could that would let me into their facilities.
I knew the importance of due diligence based on my own experience building a ground-up technology and turning it into a global business. By mid-summer, I was questioning whether a commercially successful tire to product technology had yet to come to market yet. While some of the companies I looked at were indeed operational, their throughput and downstream product quality/consistency were lacking.
Just as I was writing to the investors to report these findings, my phone chirped. It was a colleague calling to tell me about Bolder Industries (BI). My interest was piqued but I wondered why these guys were flying under the radar? I reached out to the Founder and CEO of Bolder Industries, Tony Wibbeler, who immediately extended an invitation --‘ you’ll know what you’re looking at, come on over and I’ll show you’. Four days later and I was winging my way to Denver.
Sitting in their Boulder, Colorado office, I fired off a myriad of deep-dive questions. To my delight, they not only answered, but explained their tech and process in a way no one had before. I thought they’re either extraordinary sales guys, or they really do have the secret sauce. A quick lunch later with some board members and we were off to Maryville, MO to tour BI’s plant. I instantly noted the following:
The plant was fully operational
There was a confidence and calm to the operational activity
Everyone was very welcoming and keen to impart information with pride.
The product was being forklifted in a truck for shipment to customers.
They weren’t hiding anything. I was invited into the control room, shown the historian, and noted that what I had been told bears true with regards to operational uptime.
To ensure jet lag wasn’t clouding my thinking I asked, ‘There have to be issues here – what are they?’, to which BI’s CTO responded ‘Yes a really big one – we cannot produce enough product for our customers with present capacity so we have plans to triple the size of this facility.’ Then it dawned on me… unlike the lip service I’d gotten from so many others, these guys were actually doing it.
The facility tour continued, and I was educated on the BI culture of customer care and product focus. I also learned that BI’s philosophy is rooted in a deep understanding of the chemistry of the process to achieve the desired results. I was sold. Never had I come across this level of professionalism, company culture, knowledge, pride, and overall excellence.
Tony invited me to a staff BBQ that evening. We arrived at a house not far from the plant where the Colorado team stays when in town (reminded me of a college frat house). All of the staff were there. Burgers and steaks were being grilled, beers handed out and everyone was in a great mood. I had an opportunity to talk with each of the staff and was impressed by the pride they exuded. Suitably fortified with claret, I managed to corner Tony and Nate to give my feedback and view on the next steps...
Jump forward to November 2020. I am now the President of Bolder Industries Europe with four sites identified to build plants (the UK, Netherlands, Germany, and Spain). The market is extremely keen to buy BolderBlack® and BolderOil™ and we are in the final stages of raising a finance package to deliver all four!
I will let you ponder how the conversation went with Tony and Nate in the ‘frat house’ in June 2019! Will we become the largest end-of-life tire to product and chemical company in the world? Definitely...well maybe (and only if we want to be).
