Impressions Labels Lanka achieves important sustainability milestones

Thursday, 2 October 2014 00:52 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

In an era where sustainability is considered to be at the forefront of business strategy, Impressions Labels Lanka Ltd. – one of the leading providers of labelling products in the country with a global operation – recently kick-started its corporate environmental sustainability plans by embarking on a three-year carbon and water footprinting program for its local operations.

Impressions Labels Lanka CEO/Managing Director Luvi Siemon (third from right) receiving the Carbon Conscious Certificate from Carbon Consulting Company CEO Sanith De Silva Wijeyeratne. Also present from left: CCC Assistant Manager – Client Relations & Business Development Kanishka Jayasinghe, CCC Assistant Manager Sustainability Solutions Lakmini Senadheera, Impressions Labels Lanka Internal Auditor Kalani Uththara Ranathunga and CCC Sustainability Associate Shermila Weragoda Impressions Labels Lanka partnered with the Carbon Consulting Company (CCC) – the foremost integrated sustainability solutions provider in Sri Lanka – to conduct these assessments. Having met the required criteria, they were awarded ‘CarbonConscious factory’ certification, thereby becoming Sri Lanka’s first labelling company to achieve this distinction. This significant effort of Impressions Labels Lanka to calculate and manage both the carbon and water footprints of its operations is the first of many steps in a new long-term commitment to reduce the company’s environmental impact, towards becoming a responsible, sustainable, and environmentally-friendly business entity. A carbon footprint measures the total Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions produced directly and indirectly from the activities of a company, product, or activity, and is an essential tool for understanding and managing an entity’s impact on climate change. Carbon footprints are measured in tonnes of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent (tCO2e).A water footprint measures the direct and indirect water consumption of a business entity. It focuses on three areas – Blue (amount of surface or ground water used by an entity or during the production process); Green (amount of rain water used/evaporated during an entity’s operations or incorporated into the production process); and Grey (amount of water required to dilute/assimilate the polluted water released from an entity’s operations). Following the completion of these assessments, Impressions Labels Lanka was provided with mitigation solutions to reduce both sets of footprints by the consultants of CCC. Upon receiving the certification, Impressions Labels Lanka CEO/MD Luvi Siemon said: “This is another step that Impressions Labels has taken to preserve the environment, protecting it for future generations. Our business’s main task is not only making profit, but to ensure that we make profit while looking after staff, environment and global requirements of our valued buyers and sustain a healthy business.” Speaking on the occasion, CCC CEO Sanith de S. Wijeyeratne said: “Unlike the lip service claims by many in industry today, correcting and mitigating the environmental impacts created through industry is not achieved overnight. It requires significant commitment from all levels of a company – from senior management down to ground level staff. Building this shared vision of environmental concern, takes time and concerted effort. We are proud to have partnered with Impressions Labels Lanka in helping them achieve their sustainability goals, and we should all be grateful to companies like this who strive to make a real difference in combating the global crisis of climate change.”