Cans to craft–the story of LPL trophy
But, Keerthi who overcame the greatest challenge of his life–’the fear of heights’ to become an Airman and a skydiver, was not able to land on the designated spot, thus crashing elsewhere to have both his legs ‘smashed’
Overcoming the predictions made by the medical experts, who stated that Kanaheraarachchi would never be able to walk again, his grit and commitment resulted in standing back on his own feet after a battle of two years. This was the time when he retired from the Air Force and joined the corporate sector, after having spent two years abroad with his family.
Kanaheraarachchi strikes back to the fore with his latest initiative ‘Melting Point’, a non-profit organisation that collects used cans, and recycle them into products that would end up as useful utilities. The once ‘useless’ aluminum cans, used to have soft drinks and mild spirits, are now ‘upcycled’ as crafty creations that holds a great market value.
As the Chairman of Melting Point, his latest venture is in sport, particularly with cricket, as manufacturers of trophies and souvenirs, and coming on top is the prized trophy of the ongoing Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2023.
“It’s a massive achievement, to reach this point of creating the valued LPL trophy. When we approached Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) with our proposal, they willingly gave us the opportunity to create the 2024 LPL season 4 trophy. Vihanga Wijesinghe, the Project Manager, who is still an undergraduate, was highly enthusiastic in making the project a success,” Kanaheraarachchi revealed.
It took over three months to design and handcraft the two-and-a-half feet tall LPL trophy weighing 10.5km using 2532 empty beer cans at their first Melting Point factory situated in Pilimatalawa.
The trophy’s circumference is nearly a foot in all directions, except for the two handles, that are topped with two neatly crafted lion heads.
Each detail of the design that contains many lines and curves, are done with hands of nearly 30 craftsmen, led by Prasanna Kumara, a well experienced coppersmith.
“It was a factory that used to produce traditional brass items, but was on the verge of shutting down the operations. We heard about them and made the approach, which resulted in the factory being transformed into Sri Lanka’s first used can ‘upcycling’ plants. Making of the LPL 4 trophy is a result of years of experience,” Kanaheraarachchi added.
Keerthi Kanaheraarachchi (L) explaining on how the 'upcycling' process happens with his Project Manager Vihanga Wijesinghe (R) - Pic by Priyanka Samaraweera
In addition to the main trophy, Melting Point also created 24 ‘player of the match’ trophies with a roaring lion on the base, weighing at 1.5 kilograms. For this Melting Point has used approximately 275 cans, which in whole tallies to over 6600 cans.
Kanaheraarachchi, who is overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of the present generation in protecting the nature through various projects, has his right-wingman Vihanga Wijesinghe take the lead in almost all the projects taken up by Melting Points. Wijeratne, who is pursuing a career in marketing or business management, is at the helm of various projects conducted by Melting Point in collaboration with Central Environmental Authority, and other various non-profit organisations who step up in preserving the nature.
“By today, we have created a channel from can collectors to buyers and have managed to create thousands of direct and indirect job opportunities islandwide. Not only do we contribute to the nature through various cleaning projects at beaches and natural surroundings that are polluted by some of our very own citizens, we also initiated to elevate and promote aluminium recycling and ‘upcycling’ in Sri Lanka, transforming used cans into breathtaking arts and crafts. Our slogan ‘from can to craft’ says it all,” Wijesinghe, a BA Honours undergraduate at SLIM in Business Management and Leadership, told the Sunday Times.
Started off in small scale as a project to help balance the nature from pollution, Melting Point was initially into producing handicraft items and ornaments that would generate an impressive demand as days and months pass by. They stepped into producing sports trophies by becoming suppliers for a few small scale sporting events, before earning the opportunity to produce the player of the match trophies for the recently concluded ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup, which featured eight teams and 15 games up to the final.
Their biggest break was designing and crafting the LPL 4 trophy and the 24 player of the match trophies, which managed to spread the importance of preserving the balance of the nature among Sri Lankans and all earthlings. Melting Point’s LPL 4 trophy creates history as the first of its kind to be produced using used aluminium cans, an initiative that could continue in the sporting arena not only in Sri Lanka but across the world in years to come.
Melting Point’s venture is indeed the perfect testimony to Kanaheraarachchi’s comeback to life from a near-fatal crash to the ground from 14000 feet above that forced him to struggle and face challenges before standing on his two feet. By today Melting Point has become a talking point among many, not only in Sri Lanka, but also in other parts of the world.
“It’s a great honour, to me, my associate Vihanga (Wijesinghe) and Prasanna (Kumara) and his team to have been able to create history in sports, in particular in cricket and LPL. We are eagerly following the tournament to witness who will lay their hands on this historical asset made out of discarded cans that became a craft. We will continue to make more crafty products in time to come, with the initiative now showing the potential of leading up to an industry,” Kanaheraarachchi, a track athlete with many records to his name, said in conclusion.