3R provide practical and innovative advice and service solutions for industry and government to help meet growing demand for more sustainable business practices.
Agrecovery reaches 50!
Five new companies have joined Agrecovery from the 1st of April bringing to 50 the number of participating brand owners. This coincides with the 3rd anniversary of the programme’s launch. “We started the programme 3 years ago with just 12 brand owners and are delighted to now have 50 supporting companies,” says Graeme Norton, director of 3R Group, programme managers for Agrecovery.
“It’s a great result which shows the strong support that this programme has across the industry. It also makes the programme even easier for farmers and growers to use, as there are now so few brand owners outside the programme.”
One of the new brand owners, Paeroa-based AgriSea NZ Ltd, is a multi-award winning sustainable New Zealand company producing seaweed soil, foliar, turf, pasture and animal health concentrates for agriculture and horticulture. Winner of the 2008 Waikato Sustainable Company of the Year, AgriSea is committed to supporting sustainable farming. General manager Tane Bradley says “We understand the size of the on-farm plastics problem for farmers in general and are pleased to partner with Agrecovery to be part of the solution.”
Mr Norton says the Agrecovery Container programme follows a successful, internationally proven product stewardship model for the recovery and recycling of agrichemical containers and is affiliated with the Crop Life International Container Management Group. “The model works extremely well around the world and, as shown by the level of support from NZ’s leading agrichemical and animal health companies, our brand owners also believe it’s the right model for New Zealand.
“To provide added assurance the programme is accredited to Environmental Standard ISO 14 0001 so everyone supporting or using the programme, from the brand owners and collection site operators through to programme users, can be confident that it is safe and fully compliant. “This includes the end use for the recycled plastics,” says Graeme. “In the case of the Agrecovery recovered plastic containers, these are made into underground cable covers for telecommunications and electrical cables.”
The new brand owners to join the programme from 1 April are Agrichem, AgriSea, Novartis Animal Health and Venco, as well as animal health products from Fort Dodge, Cydectin and Vetdectin, which are now part of the Pfizer stable of brands.
Novartis Animal Health Australasia head of marketing and technical services Jeremy Cocks says Agrecovery’s goals are consistent with Novartis’ strict waste management strategy to prevent, reduce or recycle waste, or use it as an energy source before the safe final disposal of unavoidable residues. “We always prefer waste prevention, reduction and recycling before treatment, incineration or disposal, and opportunities for recycling, such as through Agrecovery, are always considered.”
Agrichem’s New Zealand representative Jeremy Anderson says “As a global business, maximizing the company’s environmental sustainability is one of our key strategies. Joining Agrecovery is consistent with our company’s belief of being environmentally and socially responsible.”
Wayne Dolheguy director of Venco, another company to join the Agrecovery programme this month, said the company’s fungicide “Teracep “ and surfactant “Hydracep” are organic, biodegradable and look after the environment so it is essential to also dispose of the empty containers in a responsible way. “Sustainable viticulture and horticulture are vital to New Zealand’s clean green image and joining Agrecovery is one way we can contribute to this.”
Mr Norton said it has been a very successful year for Agrecovery with excellent progress in all three programmes - Containers, Wrap and Chemicals. “We’re grateful for the continued support of the 50 participating brand owners.”
Founded in 1975, LeaderBrand is recognised as one of New Zealand’s largest and most diversified horticultural and fresh food businesses.
With farms located in Gisborne and Canterbury, LeaderBrand is the largest grower, packer, and shipper of buttercup squash (Kabocha) in the world, and the largest grower, packer, and shipper of broccoli, lettuce and fresh sweetcorn in New Zealand. They are also one of the largest growers of 'Gisborne Chardonnay' and Pinot Gris grapes.
“The highly discerning Japanese market is a large scale export customer and the protocols they require are applied to all LeaderBrand produce,” explains the company’s Annual Crop Manager Richard Burke (pictured).
“We’re certified with NZGAP and have a certified HACCP-based food safety programme. We also conduct regular random residue tests and only use certified non-GMO seed stocks.”
Customers can trace the origin of a delivery directly to the paddock it was grown in, and view online documentation relating to the planting, crop management and harvesting of the produce in that paddock, plus subsequent storage, packing and shipping to the customer.
“We grow over 3,000ha of fresh produce every year, so we’re probably the largest single user of agrichemicals in the country,” says Richard.
And when it comes to recycling their plastic containers, Richard supports Agrecovery all the way.
Agrecovery Rural Recycling and Westland Milk Products are working together to achieve the co-operative's aim of ensuring the West Coast leads the New Zealand dairy industry in sustainable rural recycling initiatives.
Chris Pullen, Environmental Manager for Westland Milk Products says “We want to ensure that the West Coast dairy industry is highly regarded for its contribution to environmental sustainability.
“With Agrecovery’s help we can promote international best practice and protect New Zealand’s reputation for sustainable agribusiness practice right here on the West Coast.”
The collection of unwanted agrichemicals this year is set to be stronger than 2010's record of nearly 10 tonnes collected through the nationwide Agrecovery Chemicals Programme.
Otago topped the seven regional collections in 2010 with 1921 kilograms collected.
According to Debbie Sherwood, coordinator for the Agrecovery Chemicals programme, booking volumes have been equally strong in 2011, showing chemicals are still a problem on many properties.
“We have completed three collections so far this year, with a record 2060 kg collected in Canterbury. Four other regional collections are in the planning stages, including the Otago/Southland collection where bookings close on 2nd September.”
National leaders in product stewardship development 3R Group has added another accolade to its impressive CV with a paint recycling programme under its management gaining Product Stewardship accreditation.
3R manages the PaintWise paint and packaging take-back scheme on behalf of Resene.
Resene PaintWise is one of six programmes to secure Ministry of Environment (MfE) accreditation to date.
3R Group Executive Director Graeme Norton said the company was thrilled the Resene PaintWise programme joins another programme the company has developed, Agrecovery Rural Recycling, in receiving accreditation.
