Sean Lam had built an extensive career in the fintech industry.
Having worked across cybersecurity and risk management at major firms like PwC and Visa, he even went on to start his own fintech startup, Jewel Paymentech—a financial risk technology company that was later acquired by Advance Intelligence Group, the company behind buy-now-pay-later platform Atome.
But after exiting his venture, Sean found himself at a crossroads. Although he had cracked some tough challenges in digital payments throughout his career, he felt a growing need to create something with deeper, long-term impact.
That’s when he came across a sobering statistic: Singapore is the world’s largest producer of single-use plastic waste per capita, with a recycling rate under 6%. While various initiatives to promote recycling have been underway, few were seriously addressing reuse—the step that should come before recycling.
This realisation compelled him to take action, and with that, Ecoworks was born. Today, the company operates a growing network of automated refill stations for household products across Singapore.
How it works
Ecoworks rolled out its very first refill station in late January 2024 as a proof of concept, and has since expanded to 14 locations across the city-state.
As of writing, its stations only dispense laundry detergent and dishwashing liquid, which the company claims are biodegradable, plant-based, and produced using renewable energy.
Beyond being gentle on the environment, they’re gentle on the wallet too, with one litre priced at just S$3.
The refill process at Ecowork’s automated stations is designed to be straightforward: Just bring along a clean, dry bottle with at least a litre’s capacity, tap to pay, select your refill, and dispense.
All stations are fully unattended, cashless, and cloud-connected. “Behind the scenes, we track inventory in real time [and] manage transactions remotely,” Sean added.
Soon, the startup will also allow users to pre-purchase refills on partner marketplaces and redeem them on site. This will be either via QR code, or through Ecowork’s app, which is still currently under development.
“We call this ‘refill commerce’—a new last-mile format that cuts out both packaging and shelf space.”
Getting the concept off the ground
But refill stations have existed inside specialty stores for years, so what exactly sets Ecoworks apart and how has it managed to scale?
Sean pointed out that traditional refill stations never really took off as they simply weren’t built for convenience. “They relied on people bringing their own bottles, traveling out of their way, and dealing with a manual, often messy process,” he explained.
What’s been missing is a system that works outside of stores—closer to where people actually live. Something smart, unattended, and accessible 24/7. That’s what we set out to build with Ecoworks.
Sean Lam, founder of Ecoworks
This is why the company intentionally set up its smart refill stations in everyday spaces, from HDB void decks to community centres and even university campuses.
However, getting the concept off the ground wasn’t easy. The biggest hurdle the startup faced securing the space to operate its stations. According to Sean, since such stations had never existed in Singapore before, there was no established process for obtaining approvals.
“Unlike typical vending machines that dispense more plastic products, Ecoworks operates more like a reverse vending system—each refill helps remove bottles from the waste stream,” he said. “It took considerable effort to help stakeholders understand that these stations function as infrastructure, not retail outlets.”
Once the startup overcame that hurdle, it raised a small pre-seed round in the low six-figures from angel investors. This funding enabled the company to develop its tech stack, expand its pilot network and start gathering data to prove both its impact and viability.
Another significant challenge the startup faced was onboarding other brands. Many had deeply entrenched supply chains built around plastic packaging, so shifting to refill required rethinking product distribution—which comes off as a big ask. “We had to show that this wasn’t just an eco-initiative, but a viable new [revenue] channel,” said Sean.
One of the brands the startup has collaborated with is bio-home, which produces eco-friendly cleaning products. Together, they’ve deployed branded refill stations at the National University of Singapore as well as City Square Mall.
Building the ship as it sails
So far, Ecoworks’ efforts to reduce single-use plastic waste appear to be paying off. It is on track to eliminate 100,000 single-use bottles by the end of 2025, and to date, has already avoided 558 kilograms of single-use plastic.
But the company still considers itself in its early stages. Like many startups, the company is building the ship as it sails, and at its current phase, it is focusing on learning and collecting data from each of its smart refill stations to plan a more strategic and targeted rollout in the next phase of growth.
In the short term, Sean is focused on expanding the business’s presence, and will be piloting a franchise model to scale cost-effectively. He is also looking to introduce more product categories.
Looking ahead, the long-term vision is to establish Ecoworks as a “full-fledged refill commerce platform” across Asia. This includes entering new markets such as Japan, Hong Kong, and Malaysia.
“We’re still early in our journey, but the traction we’re seeing reinforces the need—and demand—for smarter, packaging-free alternatives,” said Sean.
Awareness around sustainability is growing, and while the culture of reuse is still in its early days, he believes it holds the greatest potential for meaningful change.
Featured Image Credit: Ecoworks/ Edward Chia via Instagram
