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Ceylon Waste Management Ltd. (CWM), a pioneering Sri Lankan company that engages in the recycling and processing of electronic and electrical waste (E-Waste) has been honoured with its third international award for its successful process management and environmental best practice.
The Green Apple Award for Environmental Best Practice was received by the company’s founder Sudesh Nandasiri in a ceremony held at the International Green Apple Awards 2017 at the Parliament houses in UK on 6 November.
The Green Apple Environment Awards were established in 1994 as an annual campaign to recognise, reward and promote environmental best practice around the world. The Green Apple Awards scheme was one of the first to be accredited by the RSA (Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) as an official feeder scheme to the European Business Awards for the Environment, and is still one of only a handful of accredited campaigns.
The awards is run by The Green Organisation – an independent, non-political, non-profit environment group dedicated to recognising, rewarding and promoting environmental best practice around the world.
Previous awards won by CWM include the International Diamond Prize for Excellence in Quality 2015, from the European Society for Quality Research, headquartered in Switzerland, which is held to recognise companies with superior development efforts and overall excellence, which are most committed to economic progress, both for them and their communities as a whole, and The Platinum Technology Award for Quality & Best Trade Name at the Green Era Awards 2014, held by the Otherways Management Association Club (OMAC), Paris, France, which is an award designed to recognise true global sustainable examples of companies that have shown green practices in their performances.
Elaborating on the award, Ceylon Waste Management Ltd. Chairman Nandasiri said: “The main reason we have been successful in our area of business and have been recognised with these awards is that our business model is a partnership of technology, environmental management, economic strategy and HR, synchronised towards achieving bottom line growth. We manage the environment and waste by handling electronic waste, utilising human labour and we have converted this into a valuable resource where we can generate revenue.”
“We are truly honoured and proud to be the only e-waste recycler to be recognised at the prestigious Green Apple Awards and to be among global names such as Toshiba, Bank of England, Bywaters, Skanska, East Sussex Highways, Galliford, GreenZone, Grundfos, KIER, Korea Airport Corporation, Korea Energy Agency, Network Rail, Saudi Aramco, Suzuki and Tusker, etc. that also won awards in different categories,” he added.
Established in 2010, Ceylon Waste Management Ltd., is the only Board Of Investment (BOI) approved e-waste recycling factory in Sri Lanka. The company delivers customised e-waste disposal solutions for corporates and individuals in Sri Lanka.
At present, CWM delivers sustainable e-waste recycling solutions, DATA destruction services and waste cable recycling solutions etc in Sri Lanka.
As a professional in the sphere of electronic waste management, Nandasiri, brings to bear a wealth of experience and in-depth knowledge on the subject and is a member of the Sri Lanka Recycling Association, of which he is currently Chair.
Expressing his views on the current state of waste management in Sri Lanka, Nandasiri said: “Waste has become an issue in Sri Lanka not because of the nature of the waste, but because of a failure in handling the waste properly. We continue to be successful due to our competencies in handling waste.”
As a specialist handling e-waste with the leadership in process management of this type of waste, the company extracts precious metals such as gold, silver, platinum, palladium and copper through a proprietary process.
CWM is also in the process of constructing South Asia’s first precious metals refinery complex in Katunayake, which is scheduled to begin commercial operations in January 2018.
CWM follows Central Environmental Authority (CEA) guidelines in local operation and United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) guidance in its international operations and has been recognised for its contribution to the local economy with national awards. They are the Bronze in the Small Category at the NCE Export Awards 2015, and a Merit Award at the National Business Excellence Awards 2014 for Manufacturing – Non Traditional Sector.
