Dilmah Tea packed fresh in Carbon Neutral Facility
View(s):Dilmah has successfully fulfilled a pledge made in 2014 by its Founder, Merrill J. Fernando, to become a Carbon Neutrality facility by 2017, further strengthening our commitment to reduce our impact on the environment.
Through initiatives such as ‘Greening Batticaloa’ and ‘Biochar Application’, Dilmah was able to actively reduce our carbon footprint to zero, thus marking a momentous net zero release of Carbon into the atmosphere. Mr. Fernando’s pledge, made at a Dilmah-organised substainability conference in 2014, was reported in the February 9, 2014 issue of the Business Times.
Dilmah’s journey towards becoming a Carbon Neutral facility began in 2011 following the completion of its first sustainability report carried out by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the company said in a media release.
This eventually led to a comprehensive analysis of Dilmah’s carbon footprint being carried out by Dilmah Conservation together with the University of Colombo in 2013, resulting in the development of a Carbon Neutrality Action Plan which focused on four main areas; Energy, Transportation, Water and Waste. In addition, the plan included further recommendations that Dilmah could take such as conducting internal training and awareness programmes, improving energy and resource efficiency through the implementation of innovative schemes, adding to renewable energy sources and implementing other alternatives reducing emissions.
Initiatives such as ‘Greening Batticaloa’ – a programme set up in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka through which 500,000 cashew plants have been planted to date, ‘Biochar Application’ – a research programme looking into the potential of biochar as an environmentally-friendly soil enhancer in tea cultivation, and the installation of two solar power plants (100KW and 150KW) at Dilmah Headquarters – one of the largest privately-held solar power generations in Sri Lanka, are a few of Dilmah’s ambitious endeavors, focused on habitat restoration in the North and East of Sri Lanka, reducing the usage of harmful chemical fertilisers in Sri Lanka’s tea estates and promoting the use of renewable energy, respectively, to achieve carbon neutrality.
Additionally, in early 2016 Dilmah’s global partners, 107 to be exact, joined in solidarity with Dilmah and committed to working towards achieving carbon neutrality.