Phoenix Industries wins ‘Gold Flame’ award

Phoenix Industries Limited was recently honored for their energy conservation initiatives at a ceremony organised by the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority which was presided over by Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne. Phoenix Industries Makandura received the Gold Flame and was the highest rated facility in the ‘Large Scale Manufacturing’ category. They were also the only facility to win a major award for two consecutive years.

Phoenix Industries is the largest plastic manufacturer in the country, with a proven track record of industrial best practices. Having won the bronze flame in the year 2011, the Company committed themselves to keep up the momentum with continuous improvement in the area of energy management.  During the year 2011/2012 they implemented significant energy saving projects and initiatives carried out by a dedicated energy management team comprising the Head of Engineering K.M. Rathnaweera, Energy Manager Chamila Wijeratne and Engineer Sarath Ferdinandez. This team, working under the leadership of the Chief Supply Chain Officer Thilan Samarawickrama, was guided by Brandix Environmental and Energy Management Head Iresha Somarathna.

“Over the last twelve months, Phoenix has continuously reduced its specific energy consumption.  Over this period we have achieved a 13 % reduction and within the last 24 months a reduction of 34% in specific consumption. These reductions have been made possible by the use of more energy efficient hybrid machines, rearranging of compressed air and chilled water lines for increased efficiency, VSD (Variable Speed Drive) chillers, use of VSD’s in both the pump houses as well as the thermal Insulation of the injection moulding machine barrels to prevent heat losses,” said Phoenix Industries CEO Hasith Prematillake, who added, “A new Capacitor Bank has also been installed to correct power factors and the use of renewable energy sources such as skylights imported from USA.”

Phoenix Industries was the first plastic manufacturer to introduce Hybrid Injection Moulding machines to Sri Lanka in late 2009. Moving yet another step ahead in energy conservation, the company in January 2012 purchased Sri Lanka’s first ever All Electric Injection Moulding Machine from Japan, which can save energy up to 70%.  

Phoenix Industries Managing Director Aslam Omar concluded, “The team at Phoenix has committed itself towards sustainable energy management and our achievement in continuous energy saving has given us a competitive advantage in today’s environment of rapidly escalating energy costs.”