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Serious award haul for Ed... |
The accolades just keep pouring in for Ashburton businessman Ed Harrison – who scooped up three major prizes at the biennial Plastics' Industry Design Awards.
And no-one is more surprised than Mr Harrison that a business, still in its infancy should have earned itself three very different awards on three very different occasions.
On Friday night Fuel Storage Systems was recognised as outstanding among its peers at the plastic's industry Oscars.
His fuel storage system, born out of a clampdown on the way farmers store fuel on-farm, won a silver award in the primary product category for its innovative system, a silver in the process category and a bronze in the hard- fought enviro achievement section.
Those awards come hot on the heels of discovering NBR had voted his business second most exciting in the agricultural sector in May and innovation awards at two agricultural field days last year.
Friday's awards were an all-comers affair, and are the big event in the $2.6 billion plastics industry.
“I thought we might have a good shot, but I certainly didn't expect to have a win in three categories,” Mr Harrison said.
The unique fuel storage system has been on the market for just 18 months, and came after more than two years of design work at the kitchen table.
“I was talking to a mate who was a farmer and he said there was no decent fix for the old style of fuel storage.
“I didn't really know what he was talking about, but I researched to find what had been done elsewhere,' Mr Harrison said.
He discovered that plastic had been used successfully in the tank within the two tank (bunding) system needed for approved storage.
Using his farm machinery background, Mr Harrison wrestled with the idea and came up with a winner.
He didn't mind being pipped for gold by industry giant Gallagher.
The key was securing ERMA approval – and in their absolute faith in what they were doing.
Today the fuel storage tanks can be found on properties from Northland to Southland, and are rapidly becoming the new standard for diesel storage on farms.
While it had been a sole project, Mr Harrison said the system would have been impossible to develop without assistance from RX Plastics.
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