Kalhari wins 9 export awards in 10 years
View(s):Sri Lanka’s Kalhari Group engaged in the recycling and export of waste products with the dual objectives of environment conservation and foreign exchange earnings, has won nine export awards in the past 10 years.
Kaushal Rajapaksa, Chairman & Managing Director, Kalhari Group of Companies (second from left) receiving the award given to the company at the 2017 NCE Export Awards.
The most recent one was at the National Export Awards organised by the National Chamber of Exporters which celebrated its Silver Jubilee at the Hilton Hotel in Colombo. Kalhari won the award in the Industry Sector Small Category, the company said in a media release.
It said company Chairman / Managing Director, Indhra Kaushal Rajapaksa has provided “dynamic leadership to a team of dedicated staff that rallies round him throughout the year to ensure both success in business and industry recognition”.
Kalhari which has its head office in the rural village of Heiyantuduwa, 17 km from Colombo, also has factories in Mahara and Minuwangoda. Having begun operations in 2003 with the recycling of PET bottles, the company has now grown to a group of three engaged in the export of recycled tyre waste, rubber waste, post-consumer PET bottles and steel dust.
“Today, the world is severely challenged by the changing climate and increasing natural disasters. Driven by new technology, consumerism has become a way of life.
The waste produced as a result is varied and in very large quantities. Recycling and safe disposal of waste have become an absolute necessity. We have therefore stepped in to harness the latest technologies to protect the environment,” said Mr. Rajapaksa, who was twice the recipient of the Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Award.
In 2014, he received the prestigious Merit Award from the Plastic and Rubber Institute of Sri Lanka for his significant contribution towards the development and growth of the country’s Polymer Industry.
Kalhari is planning to expand its activities further by setting up units in the Anuradhapura district, and next year, setting up a fibre-glass recycling unit.