Corporate News

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (Monday 20 th February 2023) – INSEE Cement Sri Lanka is forging ahead with its “green” ambition to fulfill its economic, environmental, and social responsibilities to the people of Sri Lanka and become one of the foremost sustainability advocates in the country by 2030.

During an event in Colombo today, INSEE Cement released its Sustainability Report 2020/2021, highlighting the significant and tangible progress the company has made in the areas of climate and energy, strengthening the circular economy, and protecting biodiversity and water. INSEE Cement’s sustainability ambition 2030 embodies a commitment to ensure the occupational health and safety of its workforce and galvanize communities and other stakeholders to contribute towards fostering a sustainable future.

“Rather than allowing those COVID-19 challenges to consume us, we focused on supporting the vulnerable communities in areas we operate to overcome the difficulties they were facing while innovating and investing in staying the course in our sustainability ambition,” says Jan Kunigk, Chief Executive Officer of INSEE Cement. “For example, in 2020 we expanded our Ecocycle operation which now offers end-to-end solutions to support the systematic collection of fast-moving consumer goods and post-consumer waste and transform it into alternative energy and other valuable resources. We also put in place measures needed to continue our flagship environmental initiatives, like the animal rescue programme at INSEE’s quarry site in Aruwakkalu and mangrove and coral reef restoration initiatives in Sri Lanka’s southern coast. “

By end of 2021, close to over 2000 animals belonging to 71 species have been rescued from the Aruwakkalu quarry site and relocated under the animal rescue programme and more than 6.5 acres adjacent to the Aruwakkalu Quarry site were rehabilitated through ongoing Quarry Restoration programme spearheaded by INSEE Cement. Further, the company has rehabilitated 60,900m2 of degraded forest under the Forest Restoration programme.

Over the past two decades, INSEE Cement’s Ecocycle arm has pioneered total waste management solutions in Sri Lanka and served over 1000 customers in co-processing and eliminated over 1,000,000 metric tons of industrial waste. Following the 2020 expansion, INSEE Cement embarked on a maiden partnership with Unilever Sri Lanka to achieve a target of reducing the use of virgin plastic by 50% by 2025. INSEE Cement has also commissioned the Pyrolysis technology at the Ecocycle co-processing plant located at the Puttalam Cement Works (PCW) plant, as a dedicated solution for managing rubber waste, particularly used tires.

INSEE’s efforts to reduce CO2 emissions in its product profile have seen the Company go beyond the conventional product innovation strategies to adopt a more holistic approach to reduce the carbon footprint of its cement products. In 2021, this drive to innovate led to the development of Sri Lanka’s “greenest” cement, INSEE Sanstha Portland Composite Cement, billed as the first-ever sustainable cement in the Sri Lankan market.

“INSEE Sanstha Portland Composite Cement is a groundbreaking product resulting in years of extensive research by our very own i2i Innovation Center, the in-house hub for excellence in research and innovation,” says INSEE’s Chief Executive Officer. “The product uses a significantly lower clinker factor, which reduces its carbon footprint and makes it more eco-friendly when compared with other products, while simultaneously elevating performance. Portland Composite Cement also contains an optimum particle size distribution and high packing density that makes it an ideal mix to reinforce the strength and durability of concrete structures.”

Recognizing that aligning suppliers with the Company’s compliance standards on sustainability is equally important, INSEE Cement also stepped up its supplier development initiatives. This has led to several positive developments including the revision of compliance thresholds to drive higher safety standards among suppliers and enabling eco-friendly packaging alternatives, among others.

“These achievements are a testament to the commitment and hard work of the INSEE team, who often go above and beyond the call of duty,” highlighted INSEE’s Chief Executive Officer. “Especially during the pandemic period, our colleagues rose above the challenges head-on with an intense dedication to help improve the lives of vulnerable communities, and a drive to create a sustainable future for the people of Sri Lanka. This dedication continues today.”

This is the third Sustainability Report released by INSEE since the Company published its first-ever Sustainability Report in 2018. The Sustainability Report has been prepared in line with GRI Standards –Core option, issued by the internationally recognized Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). The GRI Standards enable any organization to understand and report on their impacts on the economy, environment, and people in a comparable and credible way, thereby increasing transparency on their contribution to sustainable development