Case study: Resene PaintWise
Aim: To minimise the environmental impact of Resene’s paint and its packaging and improve the use of resources through product stewardship.
It’s estimated that every New Zealand household has 12 – 15 litres of old paint in their sheds (approximately 20 million litres). Uncontrolled, the disposal of paint can be highly damaging to the environment and human health.
Resene’s vision is to be respected as an ethical and sustainable company and they have with a long history of participation in environmental programmes.
Our objectives
- Identify the barriers to the rollout of Resene PaintWise
- Activate the rollout of Resene PaintWise across New Zealand
- Innovate to create a circular economy for packaging and explore end uses for paint or its components
What did we deliver?
- We conducted an initial 6-month trial in one store
- We rolled out Resene PaintWise to more than 81 stores across New Zealand
- We have collected and consolidated paint and packaging from participating stores for nearly 20 years
- We enabled Resene to have a circular solution for plastic paint pails
- We found end markets for steel and solvent borne paints
- We continue to explore reuse options for waterborne paint and extraction of key materials
How did we do it?
- We set up an effective end-to-end collection, consolidation and processing operation for paint and packaging
- We collaborated with Resene, its packaging supplier and plastics processors to create a circular solution for polypropylene paint pails
- We continue to collaborate with Resene, universities and a number of different companies to find innovative uses for waterborne paint, including PaintCrete™
“Meeting with 3R was timely, providing much needed impetus, resource and know how to take the Resene PaintWise concept from trial to permanent rollout.”
Karen Warman
Marketing Manager, Resene
