Elephant House joins up with Zerotrash and Plasticcycle to provide collection centre for recycling

Elephant House has pledged its support to Zerotrash in collaboration with ‘Plasticcycle’, the social entrepreneurship project of John Keells Group, to promote recycling and better plastic waste management practices across the country.

This initiative will be funded by Elephant House for a period of two years and will support the development of a waste collection centre with dedicated transport and service personnel to collect post- consumption recyclable plastic from collection points.

Zerotrash will focus on the collection and delivery of recyclable plastics to this dedicated collection centre which will be situated in Boralesgamuwa where all waste disposed at the location will be segregated according to the different types of plastics to avoid further mismanagement of plastic waste. Through this partnership, Elephant House together with Plasticcycle and Zerotrash will aim to provide better access to and awareness on the disposal of plastic with the intention of extending the lifecycle post consumption recyclables, Elephant House said in a media release.

Commenting on the project John Keells Group President Consumer Foods Industry Group Daminda Gamlath, said, “As a well-loved household brand and responsible corporate citizen, Elephant House is delighted to be contributing towards further development of proper waste disposal and recycling. Through our partnership with ‘Plasticcycle’, we will focus on increasing the number of locations where the public can dispose plastic responsibly. We are constantly looking at innovative ways to minimize the impact of plastic usage and supporting responsible waste management.”

CEO of Zerotrash Hasanka Padukka, stated, “We all have a role to play as individuals and it is the responsibility of each of us to make Sri Lanka a sustainable and greener place for future generations. We believe in our partners and are confident that this partnership will greatly benefit the nation.”

Reflecting on the partnership, John Keells Group President Leisure Industry Group and Social Entrepreneurship Suresh Rajendra added that: “Partnerships between ‘Plasticcycle’ and the Operating Companies within the John Keells Group continuously seeks out sustainable solutions towards the reduction and rationalization of use of single use plastics, supporting responsible disposal and promoting recycling initiatives. The establishment of a dedicated collection centre in the Colombo district by Zero Trash, a project funded by Ceylon Cold Stores PLC and supported by ‘Plasticcycle’, will provide for an efficient ecosystem towards the collection and segregation of plastic waste which will enable a greater quantity of such waste to reach recyclers rather than ending up in our dump yards and waterways. The infrastructure in place through this collaboration, will also support the expansion of the ‘Plasticcycle’ bin network, making it easier for all of us to recycle our plastic waste.”

Initiated with a vision of being the catalyst in significantly reducing plastic pollution in Sri Lanka, ‘Plasticcycle’ was launched in 2017 through the introduction of bins to collect recyclable plastic waste. Following the overwhelmingly positive public response, the project expanded vastly and currently has 200 bins placed across the island.

Zerotrash is a service provider in the collection, hauling, segregation and transfer of waste to recyclers, offering residential and commercial waste management services. Zerotrash works towards bridging the gap between households, corporates and in streamlining the process of collection. The company will be involved in collecting from all the ‘Plasticcycle’ bins in the Colombo District and will develop a dedicated collection centre in Colombo as the first step and expand the operation in the future.

Above: Ceylon Cold Stores, Plasticcyle and Zerotrash representatives exchanged agreements. (Left to Right): Hasanka Padukka, Co-Founder - Zerotrash, Heminda Jayaweera, Co-Founder – Zerotrash , Daminda Gamlath - President - Consumer Foods- JKH,  Nelindra Fernando - Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer – Consumer Foods- JKH, Nisreen Rehmanjee – Executive Vice President, Head of Corporate Finance, Group Tax and Social Entrepreneurship Project – JKH, Kumudu Munasinghe – Assistant Vice President, Head of Corporate Communications, Head of Operations – Social Entrepreneurship Project and Group Lead – Diversity and Inclusion – JKH.

Image 2 - The agreement was signed by Heminda Jayaweera, Co-Founder – Zerotrash, Daminda Gamlath - President - Consumer Foods - JKH, and Nisreen Rehmanjee – Executive Vice President, Head of Corporate Finance, Group Tax and Social Entrepreneurship Project - JKH.