3R provide practical and innovative advice and service solutions for industry and government to help meet growing demand for more sustainable business practices.
Outstanding Result for 3R Group
Media Release 17 July 2009
Having achieved Enviromark Bronze in 2006 and then ACC WSMP (Workplace Safety Management Practices) to secondary level in 2008 the decision for 3R Group Ltd to gain registration to ISO14001 was considered a natural progression for the Company.
Hawke’s Bay based 3R Group design, implement and manage Product Stewardship programmes in New Zealand. Resene PaintWise and Agrecovery are two good examples where 3R have worked with clients to find a sustainable solution to problem industry waste streams. 3R not only define the problem and design a solution, but also manage the programmes operationally for their clients.
Both of the Agrecovery and Resene PaintWise programmes have received international recognition for their design and operation. This recognition is one of thereasons 3R looked to align the business with an internationally recognised standard. This reinforces to their suppliers and customers their commitment to the highest environmental management systems and safe work practices not only within the programmes they design but also within their own organisation.
The ISO 14001:2004 Standard provided this framework, and in October 2008, the decision was made to actively pursue certification.
Bruce Emerson, Director of 3R said “A lot of our clients are themselves ISO certified. Obtaining certification ourselves gives these clients comfort that the programmes we manage are being delivered to best practice. It is very important as managers of the various programmes that we operate in a fully compliant manner and are able to show an audit trail that proves this. This is particularly relevant for the triple rinsed agrichemical plastic containers recycled through the Agrecovery programme.
“All staff have been involved in the process from day one and embraced the principles of ISO 14001 within the business, making a firm commitment to working within the framework of the standard and at the same time not allowing the process to change to the culture of our small but expanding company!”
“Right from day one we decided that whilst the goal was ISO14001, we wanted our environmental management system to be practical and logical. Our policies and procedures talk in a language that actual means something to our team so we have made it work for us, not control us.”
For the project team, this was about improving existing policies and developing ‘real’ systems to demonstrate that “we do what we say”. The product stewardship programmes developed and managed by 3R are also included in this process.
“Even though we already had a lot of good systems in place, implementing ISO14001 made us focus on the detail. We have fine tuned our documentation systems for both the Paintwise programme and the nationwide rural recycling programme Agrecovery. We now have well documented procedures and policies that compliment the best practice that we had already been following.
“Part of our progression to ISO14001 has also required our company to more robustly assess the environmental impact of products and services we purchase and this has now become a more important part of the decision making process with new suppliers.”
By the end of May 2009, less than nine months after the commitment was made to attain ISO 14001 certification, 3R received their TELARC SAI audited registration.
3R’s auditor, Richard Church, Environmental & Quality Management System Assessor for TELARC SAI, wrote “congratulations on a particularly good outcome for this visit. We find that very rarely do organisations come through an initial audit with no conditions having been raised and even more rarely that we aren’t in a position to report Recommendations / Opportunities. This is a testament to the work you have put into developing your environmental management systems but also that this really does reflect the way in which you operate.”
Director Bruce Emerson said “It was fantastic to achieve registration on the first audit. It really shows that our environmental management system accurately reflects who we are and what we do. The team worked really hard to achieve this accreditation. It’s an outstanding result!”
“Going forward we have a robust Environmental Policy in place and can focus on the necessary procedures and specialised policies for any new product stewardship initiative to ensure satisfactory outcomes for both 3R Group and our clients.”
Users of the Agrecovery Wrap programme now have another recycling option making it even more convenient to dispose of their used silage wrap. Already more than 20,000 of the popular small recycling bags have been sold since the programme began in 2009, however some farmers have also asked for a larger recycling bag which they felt might be more suitable to their particular farm environment.
“The wrap programme has gone from strength to strength since it started but we are constantly looking at how to improve it,” said Bruce Emerson, director of 3R Group, programme managers for Agrecovery. “While the current smaller recycling bag is easy to handle and meets the needs of most farmers, we have had enquiries from those with a lot of stock seeking bigger bags so we decided to offer this larger solution.”
“We’ve made the large bags basically the same size as an alternative recycling programme to make it easier for farmers to compare prices and also for those who want to switch over to the Agrecovery service - now it’s simply a matter of ordering our bags to fit their current bin. “We’ve also had an audit carried out by AsureQuality to make sure farmers know what they can expect to fit in each bag and to cut through some of the rather rough estimates given by other recycling services.”
Available directly from Agrecovery, the new 1.3m3 bags are sold individually and hold an average 85 standard round bale wraps each. Each bag costs $60 + GST which includes the cost of on farm collection.
3R Group was delighted to be awarded ACC Tertiary Certification following an audit on 19th May.
Following the successful certification to ACC Secondary level in 2008, 3R Group decided that it should take a step up and look to achieve Tertiary level certification.
“Achievement of tertiary level shows our continued commitment to Health and Safety,” says Barbara Nicolle, Health, Safety and Quality Coordinator for 3R Group.
“As a company we’ve always been very proactive about health and safety as well as continually working to improve our business processes and the quality of the services we offer.
“After been awarded ISO 14001 accreditation in May 2009, ACC Tertiary seemed to be a logical next step.”
The culmination of the ACC audit and the commitment of all employees to health and safety resulted in the achievement of Tertiary Level Certification in the ACC Work Safety Management Programme (WSMP).
Netball official Sam Kerins was named 3R Group Official at the Unison 2010 Hawke’s Bay Sports Awards held on 29 May. The Commonwealth Games-bound netball official took home the award after a memorable year which saw him officiate at numerous ANZ Championship matches and games between the Silver Ferns and World Seven.
3R Group are proud to sponsor the awards which recognise the Bay’s top sporting talent.
As 3R Group’s new North Island sales and relationship co-ordinator for Agrecovery Leon McPhillips is hoping to encourage even more participation in the recycling programme across all sectors of the agricultural industry. Appointed in June, Leon sees his job as being about education and putting talk into action.
“I will be identifying knowledge gaps in the market with farmers, retailers and industry groups and making them aware that the programme is available. “There will be a lot of face to face work, especially with companies and organisations within the supply chain, as well as collection site operators, farmers, growers and contractors.
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 Bruce Emerson, 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.”
