MEDIA RELEASE
7 September 2011
Environmental Champions Awarded
Two environmental champions were recognised at the Packaging Council of New Zealand's Environmental Packaging Awards
with the Lion Employee Award for their ongoing contribution to environmental excellence within their organisations .
Karen Warman - Resene
Karen Warman spearheaded Resene's PaintWise programme which recycles or disposes of unwanted paint and paint tins. The
idea was born out of a customer complaint ten years ago. A lady wanted to dispose of her empty paint can and the council
wouldn't take it even though it was recyclable. Karen and her team constructed a programme that would recycle paint
containers, find uses for waste paint and plastic packaging. PaintWise was first trialled in 2004.
In the last seven years, the Resene PaintWise service has collected over one million paint containers; recycled over
200,000kgs of steel and 100,000 litres of paint has been donated to community groups - much of which was used to cover
graffiti.
While the Resene PaintWise concept was originally designed to cater for just Resene paint, it has accepted all brands of
paint since launch.
Spring Humphreys - Fonterra
Long time eco-champion, Spring Humphreys was seconded away from his operational role at Fonterra in 2003 to head up a
new environmental initiative. The aim was to minimise, if not eliminate, waste.
Key initiatives were to maximise recycling, maximise transport efficiencies, minimise waste sent to landfill and provide
equipment that was health, safety and hygiene compliant.
The programme which was initially trialled at five sites around New Zealand has emerged as a model of best practice and
eco-efficiency now being implemented across 136 of Fonterra's sites, stores and offices.
When the programme started seven years ago, over 18,000 tonnes of waste was going to landfill and last year that dropped
to just under 5,000 tonnes. The company is diverting 92% of waste back into reuse or recycle.
Spring says in the last seven years Fonterra has recycled over 45,000 tonnes of cardboard and plastic. "So that has put
the 'eco' into economics. It has turned a cost stream into a profit centre. But the beauty of the programme is that the
staff are the ones that come up with the initiatives and they are responsible for driving them."
-ends-