By Trevor Tutt – 3R Group GM Innovation New Zealand’s paint industry is the latest to move forward with creating an industry-led product stewardship scheme. An all-of-industry working group has recently been formed to create a pathway for unwanted and unused paint and its packaging to be recovered.  The co-designed, regulated stewardship scheme will collect […]

The first Climate Action Hawke’s Bay workshop, aimed at helping businesses begin their sustainability journeys, has gained overwhelmingly positive feedback, with more planned. The workshop was hosted by sustainability experts 3R Group on August 27 and 31 in Napier, with 23 organisations attending. These ranged in size from SME’s to large corporates and represented a […]

Damaged or expired child car seats don’t need to go to the tip in Central Otago now the SeatSmart programme has launched in the district. The Central Otago District Council has also come on board by offering a subsidy to encourage residents to make the most of this recycling programme and reduce the amount of […]

by Toni Bye, SeatSmart Programme Manager The day ended with defeat. No screwdriver, hammer, saw or even angle grinder could help us dismantle the final part of this child car seat for recycling. What its function was exactly I couldn’t tell you – only that it seemed to take batteries. Maybe it was intended to […]

MEDIA RELEASE: Dismantling child car seats isn’t the first thing which comes to mind when finding work experience, but a group of young men and women from LIFT Youth Employment have been taking it in their stride. Between them, the Hawke’s Bay youths spent the past five weeks – one day a week – working […]

Product stewardship is set to step into the limelight now Government has declared no less than six product categories as priorities for product stewardship.

On 29 July, 2020 the Ministry for the Environment made its most far reaching announcement to date, setting the stage for a vast swath of products (including plastic packaging) to be included under regulated product stewardship schemes.

3R Group Chief Executive Adele Rose was invited as one of the speakers at Government’s announcement of six products as priority products on 29 July. Below is her speech: Good afternoon all, thank you Minister Sage for the invitation to speak today, and our hosts for accommodating us. For taking the steps that have been […]

MEDIA RELEASE: New Zealand has one of the worst records on waste in the OECD but that’s all about to change, says industry expert Adele Rose. Today (29 July), the Associate Minister for the Environment, Eugenie Sage, declared six product categories ‘priority products’, changing how we will manage our most problematic waste streams, says Adele, […]

The country’s only voluntary accredited product stewardship scheme for paint and packaging, Resene PaintWise™, has welcomed the Government’s move to make industry responsible for their packaging. Associate Minister for the Environment Eugenie Sage today (29 July) announced plastic packaging as a priority product under the Waste Minimisation Act 2008. She also announced tyres, refrigerants, e-waste, […]

A project aimed at tackling one of the most potent causes of climate change has wrapped up, with its working group and managers now eagerly awaiting Government regulation. The Synthetic Refrigerant Stewardship Project began in July 2019 with a working group created to represent the interests of the key industries which would be affected by […]

Just like water flows to the lowest point so waste flows to the lowest cost. The announcement by Government that it will increase and expand the waste levy is therefore an important step in tackling waste in New Zealand.

When budgets are tight, there’s a tendency to view sustainability initiatives like marketing and IT costs – they’re often the first to go, but at what cost?

The importance of relationships between employees and employers and the way we work and interact has never been more relevant.

By Adele Rose, 3R Group Chief Executive Working in sustainability can be frustrating sometimes. The problems can look too big, too embedded, changes take too long. But then again, we’re an optimistic lot – tough and resilient, with an eye on what could be, where the opportunities lie and how, with a good nudge, we could […]

Since its inception our ChemCollect service has looked to maximise its positive impact on the environment. In late 2017 we took the decision to further this impact by donating to a Million Metres Streams project twice a year. The amount donated is based on the tonnage of materials collected from the rural sector and through […]

Accelerated climate change has been dubbed “this generation’s nuclear-free moment”, and while there is ever-growing awareness in the business world, actually starting to do something about it can be difficult – until now. Hawke’s Bay sustainability experts 3R Group are running the first of a series of workshops and events covering topics around climate action […]

An ambitious initiative to galvanise collaboration between Hawke’s Bay businesses and councils on climate change kicked off in Napier yesterday. The Climate Action HB: Business CoLab event on 25 November saw over 100 people from the region’s businesses and councils come together to begin plotting a way forward for Hawke’s Bay to transition to a […]

Sustainable Business Network media release: A business campaign to increase ‘product take back’ schemes has won the support of the Government’s Waste Minimisation Fund.  Product stewardship is when producers, brand owners, importers, retailers and/or consumers accept responsibility for reducing a product’s environmental impact. It involves greater oversight and control throughout the whole life cycle, from […]

Government’s announcement that it will begin consulting on a plan to make multiple industries accountable for their products and packaging at end of life is groundbreaking, but long overdue, for New Zealand. This is according to product stewardship specialists 3R Group. Chief Executive Adele Rose says the announcement is one of the most significant in […]