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Our Story
As a Māori owned company, we believe that our wellbeing and our future depend on the mauri (life force) of te taiao (natural world). Therefore our life’s work is to uplift that mauri by caring for our planet.
We started Critical. because we want to be good tīpuna (ancestors) for future generations so our tamariki (children) can prosper for thousands of years to come.
Climate change and plastics pollution are the defining challenges of our generation. In Aotearoa NZ, we import over 400K tonnes of new plastics, and send into landfill up to 330K tonnes of used plastics every year. Meanwhile 11% of global carbon emissions are from the production of building materials.
At Critical. we are building both the products and the technology platform to transform plastic waste into beautiful, low carbon and endlessly recyclable materials to empower the next generation of buildings that would make our mokopuna proud.
Rui Peng
Co-founder/ Chief Executive
Rui co-founded Critical. with the goal of building an enduring company that exists to manaaki (care for) people and land. As an architect by training he obsesses over making great products and cares deeply about the creative process designers often embark on to realise their projects.
Adam Ransfield
Co-founder, Director
Of Ngāti Raukawa, Adam has spent 20 years as a CFO across the advertising, marketing and creative industry leading both the large and the start-up brand alike, to success. He believes that profitable businesses are the vehicle to drive positive environmental and social impact.
Hanna Eastvold-Edwins
Chief Technology Officer
Hanna is driven to develop and scale green technologies to combat climate change. Her decades long engineering experience spans from innovating in large companies like Boeing, Yamaha and Fisher & Paykel to leading technical startups to innovate novel products in oDocs, Accuro and her own consultancy, Popcorn.
Maria Gnovatto
Manufacturing & Process Engineer.
Of Argentinian whakapapa and a rich history working in global production facilities, Maria helps to ensure Critical.'s smooth manufacturing operations. With an innate sense of care for the environment, Maria was the zero waste OG way before sustainability was cool.
Sarah Rewa-Morgan
Operations Manager
Our all in one get-stuff-done extraordinaire, Sarah applies her background in health science with management to help power Critical.'s operational and commercial demands. In short, she makes sh*t happen.
Michael Kwan-Him
Technician & Quality Assurance
Slow is fast. With decades of lab experience, Michael brings his special attention to detail into the manufacturing, QA, material development and data collection needs at the Critical. factory and lab.
Kamesh Sharma
Technician & Process Improvement
Keeping Cleanstone production moving like a well oiled machine, Kamesh looks after daily production while leveraging his engineering talents to support the development team with new technical breakthroughs via prototyping and 3D printing.
Mathew John
Technician & Fabrication
A Picasso with metal, Mathew is Critical.'s maker talent who can fabricate almost anything, whether if it's a custom tool adjustment to the entire custom rig. Supporting both our chief of technology and process engineer, Mathew not only operates our technology but also helps to improve it.
Critical in the media
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