Where 3R began – with two men in a shed
Twenty years ago, in a rural shed just outside Hastings, two men sat down to solve a problem. Armed with a couple of laptops, an innovative mindset, and a vision to tackle waste in a different way, Graeme Norton and Bruce Emerson formed what would become 3R. Today, the business they founded has grown to a team of over 30 people, leading product stewardship and circular economy conversations across Aotearoa New Zealand.
Back in 2004, New Zealand was a very different place. Scribe and Outkast topped the charts, the Civil Unions Act was passed and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King swept up 11 Academy Awards. Climate change meant nothing to most Kiwis, and only three-quarters of the country had kerbside recycling. There was no Waste Minimisation Act, New Zealand’s emissions were at their peak, the ‘circular economy’ was an obscure academic phrase, and product stewardship was barely a blip on the radar.
Undeterred, Graeme and Bruce began work with Resene to create expand what would become known as the Resene Paintwise paint and packaging product stewardship scheme with 3R as its Scheme Manager. They also tackled agrichemical waste, in time working with industry to create Agrecovery – the product stewardship scheme for agrichemicals and their containers.
It’s all about relationships
Right from the start, building strong relationships for a common good has been integral to 3R’s DNA. As scheme mangers for Agrecovery we worked across the primary industry, starting with just 12 chemical brands. Resene started Paintwise, but in time the model paved the way for other brands to develop their own take back programmes. In 2010, when the need for a product stewardship scheme for end-of-life tyres was identified, 3R was well-placed to ensure every part of the supply chain and Government were not just at the table, but on board the waka for the whole journey – collectively paddling towards a regulated, whole-of-industry solution.
3R and its team have always focused on meaningful collaboration and facilitation. Reciprocal, beneficial relationships are at the core of what we do. Whether that’s work with the Sustainable Business Council, Sustainable Business Network, WasteMINZ, or bringing together competing businesses to work towards sustainable, equitable solutions for waste.
We pride ourselves on our ability to seek and create effective and innovative sustainability solutions.
Early success sets the stage
Things moved quickly in the first few years for 3R, with Resene Paintwise in action in the Upper North Island by August 2005, and across New Zealand by 2007. The scheme was accredited by the Minister for the Environment as a voluntary product stewardship scheme under the Waste Minimisation Act 2008 in 2011.
3R won the Sustainable Business Network Innovation Award for mobile processing technology for its work on Resene Paintwise and, in 2008, Resene Paintwise won the Ministry for the Environment’s Green Ribbon Award.
An early trial of taking back paint at a Resene ColourShop. Collection methods (and health and safety practices) have evolved since then.
That year, 3R also won the Hawke’s Bay Today Supreme Business of the Year Award at the Westpac Hawke’s Bay Chamber of Commerce Business Awards.
3R’s work across the paint and packaging industry over the past 20 years has built strong roots for a flourishing all-of-industry scheme in future – watch this space!
In those early days, 3R was also commissioned to develop Agrecovery and its governance model. By 2007 container collections were up and running from 22 sites. In mid-2009 chemical collections began and, by 2010, over 70 collection sites were operational for 50 brands. The same year the Minister for the Environment accredited Agrecovery as a voluntary product stewardship scheme under the Waste Minimisation Act 2008
Advocacy for te taiao
One of the biggest milestones in New Zealand’s sustainability journey was the creation of the Waste Minimisation Act 2008. This put legislation in place for reducing waste, increasing resource recovery, and advancing product stewardship.
3R wrote or contributed to four of the six case studies used in the regulatory impact statement, including on paint and its packaging, and agricultural plastic and chemicals.
We actively engage with consultations and advocate for te taiao, our environment, on all issues related to waste. Our team works with Āmiomio, Business Central, and Business NZ, contributing key knowledge to the national conversation.
In 2022 3R chief executive, Adele Rose, was on the working group for Te Rautaki Para, New Zealand’s second waste strategy, published in 2023.
3R today
3R is now a flourishing, sustainability-focused organisation. Driven by a desire to find (or create) new solutions to age-old problems, 3R is a team of passionate people using their individual skills to work towards a better collective future.
We have developed or delivered product stewardship across a range of industries, including the country’s first regulated stewardship scheme, Tyrewise. Our work continues to address waste in construction and demolition, paint and its packaging, agrichemicals and hazardous waste, automotive, glass packaging, synthetic refrigerant gases, and large batteries. We work hard to bridge the space between research and development, business and commercial interests, community groups and governance and regulatory bodies.
While our team is now much more than just two men with laptops in a shed, that same can-do, resourceful energy and expertise underpins all we do. No matter how large 3R grows in the coming years, we will always know our current and future success stems from humble, innovative roots.
E wana ake – strong roots, flourishing shoots
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