Circular Economy Solutions - Rethink The Lifecyle Of Your Products

3R Circular Economy circular pattern on sand

What is the circular economy?

Put simply, instead of taking the earth’s resources and turning them into products that are discarded at the end of their life, the circular economy seeks to replicate the biological cycle where organic matter is endlessly recycled.

The circular economy addresses the environmental impacts of a product’s whole lifecycle and takes into account the waste hierarchy.

Raw resources are becoming scarcer and more expensive. Waste is costing more to dispose of. One of the core ideas of the circular economy is to keep materials in circulation at their highest value for as long as possible. Product design and innovation can play a key role in the circular economy, and so can finding innovative new uses for materials at the end of their life.

Let’s get started

Colleagues talking why choose 3R for product stewardship

Joining the circular economy.

Improving the circularity of your products can help reduce your carbon footprint and waste disposal costs. It can also help to attract, retain and engage staff.

Rethinking your supply chain, how your products are produced, and what they could become at the end of their life is not always easy. Choosing the right partner can be.

We’ve partnered with businesses and sector organisations in industries as diverse as paint, horticulture, glass packaging and tyres.

Let’s get started

What’s new?

Stay up to date with the circular economy.

Sending recyclables is often the only choice for New Zealand.

Walking the line between local and global sustainability

14-11-2023 / Circular Economy / Product Stewardship

Published in Bay Buzz If we want to live in a sustainable New Zealand then we have to move to a circular economy where resource use is maximised and waste is eliminated. A big part of this is using product stewardship to ensure products are properly

Cutting through the noise on sustainability

28-07-2023 / Circular Economy / Policy, regulation and legislation / Product Stewardship

The release of a summary of submissions to the government's Transforming Recycling consultation highlights the challenges and opportunities of engaging communities on policy initiatives.

Insights and inspiration from WasteMINZ 2023

30-05-2023 / Circular Economy / Waste reduction

It’s been four years since the annual WasteMINZ conference was held in person, so we were pretty excited to head up to Hamilton last week. The reimagineers who attended sum up their key takeaways from the event: Adele Rose – Chief Executive Aside

3R Group the good the bad and the opportunity of the waste strategy

NZ’s waste strategy – the good, the bad and the opportunities

3-04-2023 / Circular Economy / Policy, regulation and legislation / Product Stewardship

The NZ Government’s newly released Te Rautaki Para Waste Strategy (Getting rid of waste for a circular Aotearoa New Zealand) aims to tackle the problem head on. While it’s a high-level document, it outlines a direction that puts the circular econ

Fresh faces bring fresh perspectives on difficult waste streams

3-02-2023 / Circular Economy / Sustainability projects

We recently hosted University of Canterbury chemical and process engineering students for 10 weeks while they got stuck into some of the region’s toughest waste problems as part of the Sustainable is Attainable project. Their work has shown there a

Case study: Visy Recycling

12-07-2022 / Case studies / Circular Economy / Sustainability projects

Find out how the insights we provided are helping Visy Recycling improve glass recycling in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Leading kids into the House of Science

6-05-2022 / Circular Economy / People and community

An innovative programme aimed at raising science literacy in primary and intermediate schools is proving hugely popular - and we’ve jumped on board to help it reach its full potential in Hawke’s Bay.

Getting your sustainability projects off the line

20-04-2022 / Circular Economy / Sustainability projects

Having the drive to improve your business’s sustainability is one thing, having the means to do the work is entirely another. hen working with clients we often look to see what funding options are available for their projects.

Sustainable is attainable in Hawke’s Bay

4-04-2022 / Circular Economy / Primary industries / Waste reduction

Can the food and beverage industry keep up sustainability gains and innovation into 2022?

Will sustainability strides of 2021 continue in 2022?

17-01-2022 / Circular Economy / Food and beverage / News

Can the food and beverage industry keep up sustainability gains and innovation into 2022?

Cover of 3R's sustainable development goals report

Risk and Reward: Why do a sustainable development report?

7-12-2021 / Circular Economy / Climate change / News

Our Sustainable Development Report takes stock of our progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It helps us identify the economic, environmental and social issues and impacts associated with our work.

Climbing the sustainability ladder with 3R

Can we climb the sustainability ladder?

15-09-2021 / Circular Economy / Food and beverage / News

Recycling is often the first thing which comes to mind in the waste hierarchy but should come after attempts to reduce and reuse.

Case study: Glass Packaging Forum

4-09-2021 / Case studies / Circular Economy / Product Stewardship

Read how we helped Villa Maria meet the environmental requirements of a key customer and build a better decision making framework.

Design – the genesis of a circular economy

22-08-2021 / Circular Economy / Consumer goods

Product design must lead the charge so products last longer, are repairable, can be easily dismantled for both end of life and refurbishment.

3R discusses the challenges for fibre packaging

Take a deep dive before you jump into fibre packaging

22-08-2021 / Circular Economy / Food and beverage / News

Like plastic, one of New Zealand’s biggest challenges with fibre is a limited capacity to recycle it onshore.

Finding the sustainable packaging sweet spot

2-05-2021 / Circular Economy / Food and beverage / News

Designers and packaging technologists must balance food safety and wastage with the sustainability of the packaging.

3R seatsmart collections in central otago

Child car seat recycling now in Central Otago

21-09-2020 / Circular Economy / Consumer goods / Product Stewardship

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.

Product stewardship – what does success look like?

17-09-2020 / Circular Economy / Policy, regulation and legislation / Product Stewardship

Product stewardship is set to come into it's own following the recent Government announcement declaring no less than six priority products. But what does good product stewardship look like?

Why I’m celebrating the government’s latest announcement on waste

11-08-2020 / Circular Economy / People and community / Product Stewardship

Adele Rose explains why the Ministry of the Environment's recent announcement on priority products means to her.

Game-changing Government announcement in the war on waste

29-07-2020 / Circular Economy / Media Releases / Product Stewardship

Making a declaration of priority product signals which products the Government considers cause the most harm and therefore need to be covered by a regulated product stewardship scheme.

3R don't throw sustainability down the drain

Pull the plug on inefficiency, not sustainability

4-06-2020 / Circular Economy / Climate change

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 time for sustainability is now

28-04-2020 / Circular Economy / Product Stewardship

Working in sustainability can be frustrating sometimes. The problems can look too big, too embedded, changes take too long.

Leadership on sustainability is key says 3R

New campaign to help businesses take more responsibility for what they make

19-08-2019 / Circular Economy / Media Releases / Product Stewardship

A business campaign to increase ‘product take back’ schemes has won the support of the Government’s Waste Minimisation Fund.

Changing our attitude to plastic

24-01-2019 / Circular Economy / Consumer goods / Food and beverage

Plastic didn’t put itself in the oceans for turtles to eat, or in the forests to smother wildlife. That dubious honour goes to us humans.

The plural of plastic

21-01-2019 / Circular Economy / Product Stewardship

The terrible effects it has on the environment are undeniable, and there is evidence those effects are circling back to us. Plastic has also become something of the posterchild for society’s conspicuous over-consumption.

3R Sustainable Development Report 2017-2018

19-12-2018 / Circular Economy / Compliance and certification

Our latest Sustainable Development Report looks what we do, how we do it and most importantly why we do it, with sustainability at the top of our mind.

New recycling stations look out for health of the Bay

11-12-2018 / Circular Economy

Arohatia Te Mātau ā Māui, do you “Love your bay”? When you are at the Hawke’s Bay Hospital or the Napier Health Centre you will have a chance to show it, with new recycling stations and food scrap bins giving staff and visitors the chanc

Single-use plastic; are we missing the point?

23-08-2018 / Circular Economy / Consumer goods / Policy, regulation and legislation

To truly deal with the main issue of single-use plastic bags we need to focus on our actions, our behaviour, our choices.

A circular future with stewardship at the centre

31-07-2018 / Circular Economy / Product Stewardship

Mention the term ‘product stewardship’ to the first person you bump into on the street and chances are you will be met with a blank look.

Reimagining solutions for recycled paint

16-05-2018 / Circular Economy / Paint and textiles / Product Stewardship

I recently had the opportunity to present on my work around recycled paint at Australia’s leading waste management industry conference, the Coffs Harbour Waste Conference.

3R Huge economic benefit for Auckland from circular economy

Landmark report predicts huge economic benefits from circular economy

10-05-2018 / Circular Economy / Media Releases

A landmark report, supported by 3R Group, has predicted an increase in economic activity for Auckland of up to $8.8 billion should the city move to a low carbon, circular economy. However, as 3R Chief Executive Adele Rose points out it is not only th

3R Circular economy article in NZ Manufacturer

Spreading the circular economy message

15-03-2018 / Circular Economy

Talking about and promoting the circular economy is something we are really passionate about.

3R part of the Circular Economy Accelerator

Partnering to accelerate the New Zealand circular economy

20-12-2017 / Circular Economy

The circular economy is the economy of the future, and 3R Group are proud to have joined as Foundation Partners of the newly launched Circular Economy Accelerator (CEA).

Kick starting the circular economy

25-05-2017 / Circular Economy

Typically, councils in New Zealand only manage around 30% of the waste stream and that tends to be waste produced by householders.

Circular Economy – the time to Act is now!

19-05-2017 / Circular Economy

Councils play a pivotal role in developing the Circular Economy and this article provides tips on how to fund it.

Circular Economy – which city will be first?

9-05-2017 / Circular Economy

The term “circular economy” has been around for quite some time now, particular in the waste and resource recovery sectors but for many it’s still a foreign concept.

Circular Economy

Join the circular economy, reduce your environmental footprint.

Capture more value from less.

Fulfill corporate social responsibility obligations.

Meet market access and consumer requirements.

Keen to get started? Download our guide to the circular economy