Sri Lanka’s apparel sector powerhouse, Brandix, has brought honour to the country by winning Gold at the prestigious International Green Apple Environmental Awards presented at Britain’s House of Commons.
 Conferred by The Green Organisation, an independent, non-political, non-activist, non-profit environment group dedicated to recognising, rewarding and promoting environmental endeavours and initiatives around the world, the award is the organisation’s top accolade for environmental best practice at international level.
* It was presented to Brandix Finishing Ltd(BFL) Ratmalana, for the company’s innovative efforts to achieve zero disposal of solid waste and sludge to landfill by converting its effluent to environmentally, economically, and socially relevant products.
* One of these products, solid construction bricks made from sludge generated by the garment washing, dyeing and finishing processes at BFL, is already in use for the construction of a vocational training centre for the disabled.
* Brandix Finishing has also successfully integrated its sludge disposal process with the anaerobic digester of the company’s effluent treatment plant to produce biogas from decomposed biological sludge and canteen food waste. This biogas is now being used for cooking food at the canteen, and, in the near future, will be utilised in firing the curing oven used in the garment finishing process.
The remaining biological sludge, on analysis, has been found to contain many nutrients for plant growth, and, the company, in consultation with the Agricultural Research Institute, has launched a community project with the assistance of the Industrial Development Board (IDB) for the production of organic fertiliser.
Photo Caption – Representatives of Brandix Finishing with the International Green Apple Award (from left) Tharanga Premaratne, Operations Engineer; Mohamed Jarook, Manager Environmental Engineering; Hilary Nath, Head of Environment Management and Research; Christopher John, CEO; and Darshana Bandara, General Manager.
