EnviroManage Systems aims to deliver consistent, quality soil remediation services with the help of good people, good communication, and Volvo excavators from CJD Equipment.
Greater Western Sydney’s EnviroManage Systems (EMS) has provided innovative and sustainable remediation and demolition services for the private and government sectors for more than 15 years.
The business has found success through adherence to a core set of values, which means doing things the right way for all stakeholders – customers, staff, and environment alike.
Chief Executive Officer Jason Kennett leads a small, dedicated team of remediation specialists and environmental scientists that values quality results.
“We’re a boutique remediation company that does a lot of boutique projects,” Jason says.
These projects can involve anything from tracing and removing kilometres of asbestos piping through farmland, to decontaminating old racetrack sites for safe residential development.
“Simply carting and disposing to landfill was where it started,” Jason says. “But we’ve evolved over time. We’ve developed our own unique process to treat materials to best transform brownfield sites to meet certain criteria.”
One point of focus for EMS is minimising material sent to landfill – both for the sake of the environment and the client’s budget.
Where possible, reusable soil is kept onsite for use by civil contractors, or dispatched to recycling companies. This leaves only irredeemably contaminated material that requires disposal at authorised landfills – potentially saving clients from large disposal fees.
It is also key, Jason says, to minimise any impact on the surrounding community and environment. This can involve suppressing dust with water carts, or monitoring air quality for contaminants such as asbestos fibres.
“There’s legislation in place, but we also want to make sure we do the right thing,” he says. “It’s important to us that things are done properly.”
This extends to the safety of EMS staff, who undergo dust and disease monitoring every 18 months.
Jason says keeping the EMS business relatively small helps enable better quality control, and ultimately better results.
“We’re a small company, which makes it easier to keep good lines of communication,” he says. “We talk to each other regularly throughout the day, and we try to support each other as best we can to streamline the whole process.
“We run a very progressive IT system setup, which means everyone knows what everyone else is doing.”
Jason says this all helps EMS deliver projects within budget and on time.
“We always aim not to exceed timeframes – unless we encounter unexpected contamination,” he says.
Even when such surprises occur, Jason says clients will at least have been prepared for the possibility thanks to a carefully prepared remediation action plan.
In the business of soil remediation, given much of the process is largely intangible, Jason says it’s important to ensure clients understand where their money is going, and that the job is getting done.
“It’s on us to make sure clients are well-informed,” he says “They’ve really got to be across the process as well.
“Transparency is a big key. We keep good documentation of what goes on, and ensure we keep accurate field notes.
“And a fair bit of trust goes into it. Our customers trust us, and we trust our staff. I think our reputation – and our repeat customers – reflect that too.”
Just as Jason and the EMS team rely on the trust of clients, the smooth operation of the business demands equipment that can be trusted. EMS has maintained a strong relationship with equipment supplier CJD Equipment, the Australian distributor for Volvo excavators.
“I’ve dealt with Steve Wilson at CJD for 15 years, and he’s a gentleman – very easy to deal with,” Jason says. “Having one point of contact for one line of machines also means if we run into any issues, we know who to call, and we know exactly what to expect from them.”
Jason estimates EMS has taken delivery of about 12 machines from CJD Equipment in that time.
“We chose Volvo excavators because they’re well appointed,” he says. “They’re extremely comfortable, easy to operate, smooth, and consistent.
“We’ve also found we can get parts pretty quickly and reliably.”
EMS recently took delivery of two ECR145E 15-tonne reduced tail swing excavators – meaning the rear of the cab only protrudes minimally over the tracks.
“We’ve gone for a couple of the reduced swing machines because we’re sometimes working on the ground with people around, and often operating in camera mode,” Jason says.
He says the slight compromise on cabin size is worth making for jobs on close-quarters sites – helping to avoid causing any sort of obstruction or coming into contact with anything or anyone.
Jason is also impressed by the power that Volvo’s excavators offer for their size.
“On a 22-tonner, the breakout power for digging and loading is probably just as good as a 25-tonne machine,” he says.
Jason says the Volvos are also as reliable as they are powerful.
“We actually traded one in recently that had about 15,000 hours on it,” he says. “And we could have kept on using it, it still worked well – it was just a matter of upgrading to newer technology.”
For more information, visit: www.enviromanage.com.au
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