THE YEAR IN REVIEW
When all else fails, take a vacation.
-Betty Williams
The State of the Sustainable The concept of “sustainable business” would be familiar to many managers these days, but what’s it like to work at the forefront of the industry, at the green coal-face so to speak? What are the challenges and where is New Zealand heading? We talk to Adele Rose, Chief Executive of Hastings-based 3R Group, about their work helping businesses and consumers operate more sustainably. NZM: 3R works in a pretty unique space. Tell us more about what you do. AR: Fundamentally we help businesses and industry create value and opportunity from addressing their waste issues. So often, products are put in the ‘too hard basket’ and simply dumped even though they can actually be recycled; everyday items like mattresses, tyres, paint, chemical containers, contaminated plastics, and so on.
reused. Both of these elements are currently being impacted by the third, which is a government that is lacking leadership in diverting resources from landfill. NZM: That’s putting a lot of responsibility on government, rather than business to lead the charge? AR: I’m strongly in favour of business acting to make lasting change, in fact I think it’s the only way things are going to move forward. But government needs to step up and support that. The biggest issue holding us back is that it is too easy, and too cheap, to landfill our resources. Cost - the single most compelling driver for engagement with industry and behaviour change for consumers simply does not exist in New Zealand and by all accounts, it is a long way off. I believe we will start to see change when our waste levy moves from $10 per tonne to over $130 per tonne as it is in Australia. That’s the stick and the carrot, all in one.
NZM: I can imagine many businesses thinking that it all sounds a bit hard and they just want to concentrate on their core business, rather than trying to save the planet.
NZM: So, without that how do you encourage businesses to get involved in resource recovery initiatives? There must be some positives that encourage you to keep working in this space?
AR: Sure, we hear that a lot. I think that’s part of the challenge that we face – helping businesses see the opportunity that lies at the heart of resource recovery. And there are so many benefits - you can save money from reduced waste charges, create a point of difference for customers, or open up a new market for example – these results are definitely core business.
AR: Absolutely! We’re involved with some forward thinking businesses and organisations which already recognise that sustainability is a top priority. Very much along the lines of how Health and Safety has moved in to the boardroom over the last decade. Where companies have successfully ‘baked sustainability into their brand’ (to borrow a phrase from one of our customers) they are seeing distinct advantages whether it be cost savings or attracting ‘sticky’ customers.
NZM: So, what are your views on the current state of product stewardship and resource recovery in New Zealand? AR: Well, there are three elements that contribute to the growth of stewardship and by default the effectiveness of resource recovery. The first is producers taking ownership for stewarding their products throughout the life cycle – whether the product is imported in NZ or manufactured here. The second is the provision of the infrastructure that’s needed to make resource recovery possible – those, including social enterprises, which can take the products we discard and recover the maximum resources from them, landfilling only what can’t be
NZM: And at the government level, do you see any hope there? AR: We’ve seen some impressive leadership shown by local government, particularly Waikato Regional Council, Environment Canterbury and Bay of Plenty Regional Council who have been working together to develop a national policy around the storage and movement of end of life tyres. I understand that this is one of the first times this has been attempted – a real achievement given that they have 67 territorial authorities and 11 regional
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NZ Manufacturer December 2016
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