Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Syndesis does not have a sales force. However, because Syndecrete is
topical and appealing, the firm has received extensive editorial and
national television coverage. People often contact the firm, wanting to
know more about its products and services. A number of its clients have
been major corporations, including Microsoft, Sony, and Rhino Records.
Some projects have afforded Hertz an opportunity to put his commit-
ments to environmental responsibility and to social responsibility into
practice.
One Syndesis client, the author and entrepreneur Paul Hawken, co-
founder of Smith & Hawken, inspired Hertz to view business as a vehicle
for fundamental social and economic change. Hertz joined a group called
Businesses for Social Responsibility, of which Rhino Records was also a
member. Syndesis was commissioned to create flooring for Rhino's new
headquarters and was able to use Rhino's connections with inner-city gang
intervention programs to hire members of two gangs as an essential part of
the project work force. As an aggregate in the Syndecrete flooring, Hertz
planned to use about 15,000 recycled or unsold records, CDs, and audio
and video cassettes.These products had to be pounded into small bits before
they could be incorporated into the composite. It was shortly after the
Rodney King riots in Los Angeles, Hertz reports, “so we actually got two
rival gangs to work together to take their aggressions out on the Monkees
and Partridge Family and other records . . . and that is evident in the final
product.” He reflects that “it was really a case of doing good by incorpo-
rating the company's waste stream in an environmental way and also in a
social way, trying to solve problems.”
Creative problem solving is what most appeals to Hertz, but it is not easy:
It's been a constant uphill battle. I think we've chosen one of the most difficult
paths, the path of innovating something and then learning how to manufacture it
where there is not really existing technology. Having to invest lots of time and
energy in adapting equipment and manufacturing processes to suit our need,
that was certainly an initial hurdle. Understanding the fundamentals of business
and pricing was another one. If you were just making a repetitive product, the
cost accounting would be much easier. I think we've reconciled those first two
obstacles. Ultimately, although there was a tremendous initial market enthu-
siasm, I had to make sure we did all the proper independent third-party testing.
If a large corporate architect was going to specify our material, and it was new,
they would want to see a proven track record of installed jobs, which we could
not yet provide. I think we've overcome that, too, but it was another hurdle.
