Apparel products maker Thermo Plastics receives ISO 14001:2004 certification
View(s):Thermo Plastics (Pvt) Ltd, an apparel shrouds manufacturer operating under its parent company, BAM Holdings Ltd., was recently awarded the ISO 14001:2004 Certification for establishing and implementing the Environmental Management System (EMS) in its state-of-the-art factory located in Homagama.
Picture from left shows - Dilki Chandrawansa - Environmental Executive, Amila Jayakody - Asst. HR/Compliance Manager, Rashid Hameen - Director, Thermo Plastics receiving the Certificate from B.A. Sumanasiri - Manager, Systems and Service Certification of SGS Lanka, Praneeth Wijesinghe - Asst. GM, Finance and Administration and Dharma Bandula -Asst. GM, Production and Logistics.
This makes it the only apparel shroud manufacturer in Sri Lanka to receive this prestigious certification, the company said.
The certificate was awarded by SGS Lanka in collaboration with Swiss Accreditation Services (SAS).
Thermo Plastics is a pioneer in the Sri Lankan apparel shrouds industry and commenced operation in 1984 (29 years ago) with a work force of just 12 persons, in an area of 4000 sq ft and with a capacity of 8 MTS per month. The company obtained BOI status in 1992, being the first ever, non apparel company, to have this status in Sri Lanka.
With promising expansion of business over the years, the company currently has a staff numbering 150 while the production area has been expanded to 30,000 sq ft, set up in 3.5 acres of lush greenery.
A company statement said that around 2006, the company adopted many of the green initiatives focusing sustainable growth, with the operations receiving a boost with the introduction of the 100-point plan under “Plan A” launched by the world’s renowned apparel retailer, Marks and Spencer, which exercise set in motion, a range of steps to conserve the environment.
To begin with, the lighting system of the factory was adjusted by fixing glass panels on the side walls and installing sky lights on the roof, allowing natural light to filter into the building. As a result, 95 per cent of the factory began to function with harvested natural light during the day. Thereafter, the rows and rows of lights fixed over the production floor were replaced with high bay lights, and energy efficient task lights over machines that are used only when necessary. Along with these steps, motored exhaust fans were replaced with self ventilators leading to zero electricity consumption.
Moving ahead further, the company had invested in a wide range of measures to conserve the environment by modifying and improving the production process, and in turn, these measures have brought in direct financial benefits as well to the company. Within these measures, the installation of the in-house polythene recycling plant that recycles the entire clear production waste of PE and HDPE films and bags, the installation of 30 KW Solar Power System connected to the national grid under the Net Metering System which approximately generates 10 per cent of the company’s electricity requirement, all the machines being equipped with inverter type motors and capacitor banks had been installed to improve the power factor.
Thermo Plastics says it is now set on obtaining the ISO 50001:2011, the certification for Energy Management and the company’s target is to achieve this goal by the end of March 2014.