Big green tick for paint recycling scheme

Hawke's Bay's 3R Group's paint recycling programme has been awarded Product Stewardship accreditation by the Government.

3R manages the PaintWise paint and packaging take-back scheme on behalf of Resene.

The programme was developed by Resene in 2004 and became nationwide with assistance from 3R Group. Selected Resene ColorShops are collection centres where unwanted paint and paint containers can be dropped off.

It is one of six programmes to secure Ministry of Environment accreditation.

Resene chief executive Nick Nightingale said it was great to have the programme recognised after eight years of research, innovation and hard work and that the model should be adopted by others.

"This is a true partnership and without the skills and knowledge of 3R Group this would not have transpired," he said.

3R Group operates a number of PaintWise trucks that regularly collect paint from over 50 Resene ColorShops across the country. The bins of returned paint are then delivered to 3R's plants in Auckland, Christchurch and Hastings for processing.

Both steel and plastic packaging were recycled, while good quality recycled paint was used for community projects, including covering up graffiti. A new innovation is the use of the recovered paint as an ingredient in concrete.

3R also manages Agrecovery Rural Recycling, a product stewardship programme supported by 55 companies in the agrichemical, animal health, dairy hygiene, and silage wrap industries.

3R Group Executive Director Graeme Norton said the projects sought to address problematic waste that unnecessarily ends up in landfill, or had unsustainable disposal outcomes. "By developing best practice product stewardship programmes, manufacturers take responsibility for their product through to the end of its useful life and beyond."