The power of green

17 Feb 2026

If it’s colour you’re after, then you’ve come to the right place. Resene has more than 6000 colour swatches across its entire product offering and, if that’s not enough for you, will even colour match to your specifications.

But, at the heart of the business lies one colour that rules them all – green. 

2026 marks the 30th year that Resene has been affiliated with the Eco Choice Aotearoa programme (formerly Environmental Choice); an initiative aimed at improving the quality of our environment by minimising adverse impacts generated by the production, distribution, use and disposal of products.

When Resene joined the programme in 1996, it had already established itself as a leader in environmental stewardship, having introduced waterborne paints to the market in the 1950s and removing lead from its decorative paint products in the 1970s. 

In the three decades since joining the Eco Choice programme, Resene’s commitment to the environment has only strengthened, taking a local or even international lead on a range of sustainable initiatives, collaborating with likeminded organisations, and with a steadfast focus on the accuracy and transparency of claims.

Since starting the PaintWise programme in 2004, Resene has donated more than 300,000 litres of unused paint to community group projects and for graffiti coverage.

2026 will also mark the 5th year that Resene has been measuring organisational carbon for the Toitū Envirocare CarbonReduce certification. Once the current year audit process is finalised, it’ll be a perfect milestone to celebrate achieving an exceptional 20% reduction in carbon footprint since joining

If organisational carbon footprint data isn’t enough, in 2024, Resene published Environmental Product Declarations for 12 premium products, which summarise several years’ of data collection, analysis, and quality assurance work by paint chemists and environmental scientists from three organisations. This shows the cradle to grave impact of these paint products and contributes extensive learnings to the construction industry, and the carbon data can be referenced at building or project level. 

Over two decades ago, in 2004, Resene launched the PaintWise programme. This world first privately resourced paint return and recycling programme allowed consumers and businesses to return any unused paints, stains and a range of other products and its packaging to a nationwide network of collection centres.

Overseen by the Resene Foundation Charitable Trust and in conjunction with Hastings-based sustainability and product stewardship experts, 3R Group, the PaintWise programme has attained some fairly lofty milestones since its inception, namely:

• Containers collected: 8,681,274 
• Litres of paint collected: 3,301,407
• Litres donated to community groups and graffiti cover: 309,610

All of which have had positive effects on the local communities involved.

While the programme has proven successful in diverting unwanted paint products back to the community, for many years there was the issue of what to do with leftover product that was not suitable for this type of reuse.

In another industry innovation, waste paint collected at Resene Paint Recycling stations is used in the production of PaintCrete - a blockfill product for reinforced concrete masonry.

Thanks to some ‘number 8 wire’ thinking and another collaborative effort, one result was PaintCrete – a blockfill product for reinforced concrete masonry.

Latex or acrylic polymers are key ingredients in high-priced mortars and cement grouts. The only barrier to their wider use in concrete has been their cost, and their requirement to be used with de-foaming chemicals.

Being able to utilise waste paint instead, solved both the cost and foaming issues – control of foaming is an essential requirement of paint – not to mention, PaintCrete allows for even more paint to be diverted from landfill.

For those who want to specify PaintCrete, the science basically breaks down like this: the addition of waterborne acrylic and latex paint to concrete, at the prescribed dose rates, allows the cement content to be reduced, lowering both the carbon footprint and embodied energy of the concrete. While initial research was conducted in partnership with Firth Industries, Golden Bay Cement, and Auckland University, Allied Concrete now has the facilities to produce PaintCrete.

The latest product to come out of the PaintWise programme is the country’s first, fully recycled paint product – RE:Paint. Available in five colours, RE:Paint is designed for use on a range of outdoor projects.

Innovation and collaboration didn’t finish there. Building on circular economy principles which prioritise high-value products created from waste streams, Resene and 3R Group also researched the viability of remanufacturing recovered paint into a product which meets quality standards for sale.

Again, the journey eventually proved fruitful and, in 2024, Resene launched RE:Paint, New Zealand’s first recycled paint into the market in time for the 2024/25 summer season.

Ideal for use on fences, landscaping elements and general wall areas, RE:Paint products are twice filtered to 400 microns, batch tinted into one of five colours – Bush Walk Green, Greystone, Beach White, Graphite and Shadow White – and repackaged for sale. You can find RE:Paint at selected Mitre 10 MEGA and Mitre 10 stores. A recycled black stain product is currently in development.

Because it is made from Resene paint products that contain high quality resins, materials, and large amounts of high-grade titanium dioxide instead of cheap fillers, the resulting recycled paint is of a surprisingly high quality for its price point – and a much more environmentally friendlier option too. Cheap filler raw materials used in some paints are linked to destructive mining and refining processes overseas, so it is a double win for the environment to use RE:Paint recycled paint instead. A point that hasn’t gone unnoticed by many customers, given it has been flying off the shelves.

Whatever your requirements, Resene will have the product you need and in the colour you want – green.

Published: 17 Feb 2026