Eagle One Golf Products Inc. doesn’t just see green on the golf course.
Australian native Philip Thompson, founder and president of the Anaheim-based company, said he saw a chance to make golf course products from recycled plastic back in 1992.
Eagle One’s catalog lists thousands of items, from tee markers to wheels for carts, all made through eco-friendly practices.
The company, which makes all of its products locally, lists Irvine Company’s Pelican Hill Golf Course as one of its biggest customers.
About 90% of Eagle One’s sales, which range from $10 million to $20 million a year, are to golf courses across the country.
The company is part of New Jersey-based Us Eagle Corp., which has $40 million a year in revenue and also owns Fullerton-based Traffic Control Service Inc., which builds signs for freeway and road construction companies.
The recycled plastic that Eagle One uses is called Greenwood, which looks like lumber.
“It’s not a widely used material,” Thompson said. “But a big wave toward green has really helped its popularity.”
Customers like the recycled plastic because it’s cheaper and easier to take care of than many materials, such as certain types of wood and nonrecycled plastic, according to Thompson.
“People wanted something that would last and wouldn’t cost a lot to keep up,” he said.
At 70 cents to 80 cents per pound, Greenwood costs less than “virgin,” or nonrecycled, plastic and is more difficult to graffiti, according to Thompson.
Increased demand for the material has pushed the price up from 50 cents in the early ’90s, he said.
The plastic comes mostly from milk jugs and other similar products, which are collected around the country before being chopped into small flakes and formed into Greenwood.
Greenwood pieces come in set sizes like lumber and have about 10 different color options.
One of Greenwood’s downsides is its occasional impurity, such as a milk cap outgrowth.
Eagle One has gotten into furniture and sells to Walt Disney Co. and South Carolina-based restaurateur Denny’s Corp.
Greenwood costs less than teak, its main competitor in furniture.
“Teak can look nicer, but it’s also more work to keep up,” Thompson said.
Factory Facts
Eagle One makes its products in about 30,000 square feet of space in Anaheim, employing some 70 people during peak season. It also keeps a warehouse in Charleston, S.C.
Like all manufacturers, it constantly tries to keep its labor costs down by streamlining itself and keeping detailed productivity reports.
But its many custom products can make streamlining difficult at times, Thompson said.
Hiring people with experience with the recycled material has been another challenge.
“We get people with experience with other materials, but shaping pieces with Greenwood takes some training,” he said.
Despite China’s strong growth in manufacturing, companies there are yet to compete with Eagle One, Thompson said.
This could have something to do with a lesser quality and quantity of Greenwood in China, he said. It also wouldn’t make economical sense to ship the material twice for manufacturing, according to Thompson.
“The labor might be cheaper, but the material is here,” he said. n
