Tuesday, 23 July 2013 00:37
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By Cheranka Mendis
Sri Lanka’s only integrated cement manufacturing company, Holcim Lanka Ltd. (HLL) last week launched its Sustainable Development Review 2012 titled ‘Committed’; a report outlining HLL’s approach and performance between 2009 and 2012, as well as goals for workplace health and safety, staff development, environmental protection, community relations and stakeholder partnerships.
Reinforcing the company’s commitment to long term value creation and responsibility in protecting employees, community commitment, minimising environmental impact while remaining the partner of choice in chosen markets, HLL’s report comes at a time when corporates are increasingly shifting from financial profitability to value creation.
While the cement industry is oftentimes viewed as the complete opposite of what is known as ‘sustainability,’ HLLs believes that sustainability is about doing what they do to the best of ability while providing affordable solutions with high quality and fit. This would lead to minimising their impact on the environment, its effects on the climate, preserve biodiversity and conserve resources.
“We believe that profitability can only be sustained if we have a triple-bottom-line where we take care of our economic performance, environment we are operating in and the community we work with,” HLL CEO Philippe Richart said.
“Being in Sri Lanka for the past 15 years, we believe that we are supporting the growth of the economy and would like to reassure you that we want to continue to invest in Sri Lanka for the long term. We also believe we have been able to change the lives of people in the communities we operate in. We are sustainably growing in Sri Lanka and we are constantly investing in the country.”
Currently, the company is engaged in two major projects; expanding its cement grinding capacity in Galle and constructing a cement terminal in Trincomalee. At the same time, HLL is also engaged in investing and expanding its operations in Puttalam.
“In Galle we are hoping to double our grinding cement capacity to an approximate investment of $ 25 million. We are also extending our footprint in the East in Trincomalee with the construction of a terminal. At the same time we are also investing and improving our operation in Puttalam,” Richart said.
The Galle project is due for commissioning in early 2014 while the Trincomalee terminal is scheduled to be open end this month, and operational in September.
Investment for Trincomalee is in the range of $ 5 million while in Puttalam, an additional $ 2-3 million will be invested in increasing the level of clinkers. The existing capacity at Puttalam is one million tonnes of cement per year.
“Some of the clinkers produced in Puttalam will go to Trincomalee and Galle.”
Richart said: “We are proud to say we are less dependent on imports. We will be able to supply the market more efficiently and effectively in the future.”
However every investment HLL carries out to improve solutions, environment and community are key criteria for the company. Holcim have developed key initiatives and projects which make the lives of the community better. In 2012 they have invested $ 250,000 in community empowerment and have seen gratifying results. One such initiative is the ‘Supiri Village’, of which, the latest was opened a month ago in Puttalam. In terms of education, the company has an ambition to train 5000 masons by 2014/2015 and provide them with a certification. Currently close to 2500 masons have been certified under the program.
“We are also actively engaged in leadership programs with PMI,” the CEO said. “We have vocational training in Puttlam and 35 to 50 young people leave training every year and some will stay with us.”
“There are more things to do, but we have been proactive in prioritising clear needs and to be a part of an active corporate company.”
He added: “We take sustainability as part of our DNA and we strongly realise that value creation is not possible if we do not take into account the sustainable aspect of the business.”
HLL’s top agenda priority remains occupational health and safety. Their efforts in this regard have been recognised with Holcim Asia and Global Awards for Occupational Health and Safety for their ‘Journey towards zero fatalities on the road’ campaign in 2012.
Explaining further, HLL Sustainable Development, Environment and System Compliance Manager Chalaka Fernando stated that following the company’s vision to be the “leading and preferred supplier of cement and related building material to build foundations for Sri Lanka’s future,” HLL has organised a good governance system along with key projects and initiatives to be carried forward under clear-cut plans and goals. He noted that the targeted audience of the report is the main stakeholder groups who are the customers, employees, business partners and stakeholders. In this report priority has also been given on a broader context to the likes of regulators, parliamentarians, interested non-governmental organisations and so forth as well.
“As a local company we are committed to supply regular cement supply to the national growth, especially in post-war development. The speciality of our company is that we don’t just sell cement but sell application based cement.”
The company has been the supplier of cement to iconic projects such as the Hambantota Harbour Project (2012), oil tank farm in Hambantota (2012), Upper Kotmale Hydro Power Plant (2012), Southern Highway (2012), Dickowita Fisheries Harbour (2012) and Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium (2011) for the Government sector and the Ulagalla Walawwa Resort and MAS Intimates Thurulie apparel manufacturing plant, the first green certified garment factory in the world for the private sector.
HLL annually sells close to 1.6 million tonnes of cement, the largest amount of cement sold locally by a company.
On energy, the company carries out extensive R&D programs to cut down CO2 emissions. Having started a project in 2003 by substituting biomass and alternative fuel force for coal, the company has increased CO2 efficiency to over 30%. The company is also engaged in waste management with the establishment of Geocycle project under which its state-of-the-art laboratory is the only facility in the country accredited with ISO 17025. With a focus on manufacturing premium quality cement, the Geocycle facility was established at an investment of Rs. 200 million, housing some of the worlds most advanced technologies. For modification and various improvements an investment of Rs. 530 million have been invested from 2003 to 2011 in this area, while a further Rs. 160 million is planned for further tweaking in 2013.
Pic by Lasantha Kumara
