Coke ambassador Bathiya and Western Province Governor Alavi Moulana at the event

Wearing a pair of trousers made of 12 recycled PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles, Lakshan Madurasinghe, CEO of Manisha Polymer this week explained plans to export all post consumer PET for recycling by 2012. He was speaking at the launch of the new “Give Back Life” project in association with Coca Cola Beverages which was held on site at Angoda. Some 11,000 kg were sent to India on July 22, with the final container departing from the Angoda site.

PET is one of the most common materials used to pack a wide range of food and beverages as well as other household products such as detergents, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Over six million PET bottles are improperly disposed every month in Sri Lanka leading to many environmental issues. Manisha Polymer, along with Coca Cola Beverages is embarking on a new CSR project where used PET bottles, known as post consumer PET in recycling industry, will be collected and sent to India for recycling.

According to Mr Madurasinghe so far in 2008, Manisha Polymer had exported 250,000 kg of post consumer PET to Rennaissance Corporation in India for processing. They collect PET bottles with the number ‘1’ stamped at the bottom within the triangle of arrows which denote that the bottle is recyclable.

A network of collection sites, including Jetwing Hotels, the Sri Lanka Tourist Board, Crescat, Royal College Sports Complex and Stafford International School have been set up where consumers can drop in their old PET bottles and Care Kleen will pick them up and drop them off at Manisha Polymer. PET that has been sorted is crushed into bales to make transport easier and more economically viable and sent to recycling facilities where they are made into flakes.

These recycled flakes are mainly used to manufacture polar fleece as well as polyester fibres, a base material for the production of clothing, pillows, carpets, etc, polyester sheet, strapping, or back into PET bottles. “25 bottles of recycled PET are used to make polar fleece jackets,” Mr Madurasinghe said, adding that they are very popular in countries with colder climates.

Also speaking at the launch was the Country Manager for Coca Cola Beverages Sri Lanka Ltd, who said that the ‘Give Back Life’ project will be one of the company’s main CSR projects this year. “We want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem, in Sri Lanka,” Basil Gadzios said. The project is being conducted with the blessings of the Ministry of Environment and the Central Environmental Authority.