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 in November.
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 by 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 differently-abled.
Brandix Finishing has also successfully integrated its sludge disposal process with the anaerobic digester of the company's effluent treatment plant to produce bio gas from decomposed biological sludge and canteen food waste. This bio gas is now being used for cooking of food at the canteen and is to be used in firing the curing oven used in the garment finishing process in the near future.
The remaining biological sludge on analysis has been found to contain many nutrients for plant growth and the company has in consultation with the Agricultural Research Institute launched a community project with the assistance of the Industrial Development Board (IDB) for the production of organic fertiliser.