Social enterprise Archives

Sustainability is about more than just sustainability standard

The SeatSmart child car seat recycling programme (operated by 3R Group) isn’t just about keeping seats out of landfill but also making a positive contribution to society. Working with social enterprises like Real World Living is something we are always keen on, so we were thrilled to have them come on board recently to help prepare seats for dismantling at our Auckland depot, on a trial basis. The organisation works with people with physical and mental challenges to give them opportunities for working in and experiencing the world through volunteer work, says Real World Living Step Group Programme Coordinator Jackie Turvey. “We work to enhance their lives with purposeful activities and the opportunities and connections they provide.” We chatted to ...

Child car seat recycling helps lift youth employment standard

MEDIA RELEASE: Dismantling child car seats isn’t the first thing which comes to mind when finding work experience, but a group of young men and women from LIFT Youth Employment have been taking it in their stride. Between them, the Hawke’s Bay youths spent the past five weeks – one day a week – working with Hastings-based sustainability experts 3R Group, which runs the SeatSmart child car seat recycling programme. Together, Trojan Kawana, Uriah Tamati-Smith, Marika Katane, Panaomealeli Suai, Paremaina Wiperi, and Cullen Waina have put their problem-solving skills to the test dismantling expired or damaged child car seats so the components can be recycled. 3R Group operations manager Steve Nicholls says taking a seat apart is much more challenging ...

Partnership makes for social, environmental win-win standard

The SeatSmart Child Car Seat Recycling programme and the South Waikato Achievement Trust (SWAT) have been working together since November 2018, with SeatSmart sending many of the seats it collects to SWAT for dismantling. The result, says SeatSmart programme manager Toni Bye, is a social and environmental win-win. “It’s our ethos to maximise the environmental and social impact of the programme. So, when we realised we needed to look at new options for dismantling seats we sought out social enterprises,” she says. Previously all the seats were dismantled by offenders in Department of Corrections community work programmes. However, with the increase in volume and complexity of the seats, the decision was made to use social enterprises for much of the ...

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