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The times, they are a changing'

A quote from Gina Dempster of Wanaka Wastebusters may seem a strange place to start our newsletter but it certainly sums up the rapidly changing environment we also find ourselves in:

"One day.... we were going about our normal business, banging our heads against a brick wall. The next, the wall was crumbling and a crowd had gathered to climb over it." (Otago Daily Times)

We certainly feel like we are on the cusp of that long-awaited tipping point and while there is much to be excited about, there is also a great deal to be done!

Tyrewise gets rolling again

TyrewiseTM is a perfect example of these changing times: this was a project we had put to one side, resigned to the fact that, despite a willing industry with a well-researched plan for mandatory stewardship for end-of-life tyres (ELTs), nothing was going to happen without a significant event.  Luckily it wasn't a huge fire like the one that spurred Ontario to change, but instead a change in government.

The Tyrewise project went back online in March and this month we announced that the industry-led working group had been reactivated following the positive stance toward a declaration of priority product being taken by the Government on ELTs.

The next phase will be to reassess data that underpins the recommendations made by the Tyrewise working group in preparation for a mandatory industry-wide stewardship programme for ELTs.

If you want to be involved don’t forget to register.

Greasing the wheels of progress

While we may be much closer to New Zealand's first mandatory stewardship scheme, there are also new voluntary schemes being developed. One such scheme is for lubricant packaging.

In New Zealand over seven million (20 litre and under) containers, as well as an unknown number of 200 litre drums, are generated every year with most ending up in landfill. 

Last week, we were excited to be part of the announcement that a Lubricant Container Stewardship Scheme has been established, with 3R as project manager.

So far eight leading brands have committed to working together to develop a voluntary, industry-led scheme to recover, reuse and recycle waste lubricant containers for urban and rural customers. 

CALL TO ACTION

The Waste Lubricant Container Working Group is open to the whole industry. The brands displayed below are leading the way for lubricant container stewardship and call on others in the market to join us in tackling the issue.

Calling time on traditional hazmobile events

Palmerston North City Council (PNCC) recently took up our challenge to try a new approach to hazardous household waste events.

The traditional method of open slather one day a year is a headache for all involved - unknown volumes and types of hazardous waste, increasing health and safety issues associated with traffic management and chemical handling, capped off by an unknowable final cost. ChemCollectTM general manager Jason Richards decided a fresh approach was needed.

The outcome is the MyHazWaste service for local councils. A fully-managed hazardous waste event with a strong focus on education which allows councils to set, and keep to, a budget, while reducing risk from every angle.

Residents are asked to pre-register their chemicals online or by phone, and are provided with information about existing pathways for substances not accepted on the day, such as paint, gas cylinders, e-waste, etc.

It was great to hold our first MyHazWaste event, a free event for Palmerston North residents funded by the council, on Saturday, 16 June.

The day went off without a hitch, with some 80 bookings resulting in just over 800kg of hazardous material collected and safely disposed of.  Over 85% of all bookings were made via the simple online booking system.

A big thanks to PNCC for helping us prove the success of our new offering.

If this sounds like a service your council would be interested in, check out MyHazWaste.kiwi or give Jason a call on 021 922 540.

Glass Packaging Forum re-accredited

After a year in the role as scheme managers for the Glass Packaging Forum, we were delighted to see the Packaging Forum’s voluntary product stewardship scheme for container and beverage glass re-accredited for another seven years.

Associate Minister for the Environment Eugenie Sage (pictured centre with GPF Steering Committee and Packaging Forum Chair Rob Langford and 3R Group Chief Executive Adele Rose) officially announced the re-accreditation on May 18.

The Minister praised the scheme as a “showcase of the circular economy in action”, and said she is impressed with how it has developed strong partnerships with local government, businesses and community groups to promote glass recycling in New Zealand.

She also recognised that the scheme supports New Zealand’s commitment to Goal 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

To find out more visit www.glassforum.org.nz.

Highlights

3R named "Emission Reduction Exemplars"

Enviro-Mark Solutions recently released its list of New Zealand carbon reduction exemplars with 3R among the ranks. We are really proud to have been included. We have been measuring and managing our emissions since 2013 and have been carboNZeroCert TM certified for two years. We achieved this by offsetting our emissions with carbon credits at Hinewai Reserve in Banks Peninsula. Currently our emissions are 41% below our 2013-14 baseline, with total emissions for the previous year sitting at 237.06 tCO2e.

SeatSmart expansion

Our SeatSmartTM child car seat recycling programme has continued to expand thanks to support from Dunedin City Council. Two sites in Dunedin went live in April at the Rummage Store at the Green Island Landfill and Baby On The Move. SeatSmart now has 17 collection sites in the South Island and 17 in the North, covering 9 regions.

Talking paint

In May, Materials Innovation Manager, Harman Sandhu travelled to Australia where she presented at the Waste 2018 Conference on our work with both Resene PaintWise and Dulux Paint and Packaging Takeback schemes on creating value from waste paint and packaging. Her talk was well received with some strong interest in our work to find outflow solutions for unwanted paint.

Closing the Loop

We're passionate about supporting the development of a circular economy and it was great to see Chief Executive Adele Rose on the discussion panel at the screening of Closing the Loop in Hamilton early this month. The film is the first feature-length documentary on the circular economy.

Adding to Million Metres

We continued our commitment to the Million Metres Streams project with our latest donation going to the Wairoa River project in Auckland.  3R donate $200 for every tonne of materials collected via ChemCollect, helping to protect and restore our waterways.

Keep our beaches clean

3R, along with suppliers Wilsigns and Hawke's Bay Technologies, took to the shoreline at Haumoana, Hawke's Bay as part of our now biannual beach clean-up in late May. In line with suggestions from Sustainable Coastlines we've 'adopted' this section of beach and were pleased to see it looking pretty tidy. However, we still picked up some 80kg of rubbish, plus a truck tyre and recyclables. It was positive to find 100kg less on the beach than we collected in 2017. If you want to organise a beach clean-up in your area visit Sustainable Coastlines.

The beach clean-up crew with some of the rubbish collected.

The Wairoa River at Clevedon Wharf where the planting is being carried out.

SeatSmart programme manager Toni Bye.

Fond farewell

We were all very sad to say goodbye to reimagineer Harman Sandhu in May, after nine months at 3R. Harman, who was our materials innovation manager, moved to Palmerston North to be with her family.

She was a big loss with her friendly demeanour, strong work ethic and innovative approach to finding outflow solutions for the materials we collect.

The upside is her new job at RJ’s Licorice means we have a friend at one of New Zealand’s finest lolly makers.