Ceylinco Life’s Green Club collects 990 kgs of e-waste for safe disposal

Ceylinco Life Chairman R. Renganathan, Managing Director/CEO Thushara Ranasinghe (above, seated centre and second from left) and the members of the Green Club that initiated the project and (below) the project in progress 

Employees of Ceylinco Life and their families kept 990 kilograms of potentially toxic electronic waste from harming the planet, thanks to an ‘E-waste Collection Day’ initiative of the company’s Green Club which saw abandoned and malfunctioning electronic equipment being responsibly recycled.

Among the discarded devices collected from Ceylinco Life offices and homes of employees were items of electronic equipment such as printers, personal computers and parts, laptops, networking equipment, scanners, mobile phones, CDs, DVDs, floppy disks, UPS units, video cameras, calculators, facsimile machines and telephones, video games, electronic components and multiple types of batteries including lead, nickel, and cadmium batteries, telecommunication and server batteries. 

In all, an eye-opening 800 plus pieces of electronic waste were amassed on the day and dispatched to a reputed company specialising in the recycling and disposal of e-waste, the company said. This works out to approximately 11,123 lbs of carbon emissions being prevented from entering the atmosphere and is equivalent to saving 369 trees or recycling 12,990 plastic bottles, the company said

Commenting on the event, the President of Ceylinco Life’s Green Club Tilan Wijesinghe said: “It is astounding how much e-waste can accumulate in homes and offices over the years. The success of our first ‘E-waste Collection Day’ was encouraging and helped create environmental awareness on an aspect that is often ignored. There is wider understanding now about how harmful the toxins in e-waste are to the environment.”

The Green Club of Ceylinco Life was formed earlier this year by a group of volunteers with the objectives of creating an understanding about the environment and environmental challenges among all employees, developing the necessary skills and expertise to address the challenges faced by the environment, creating a culture that takes responsible action related to the environment, and encouraging employee participation in activities to create a ripple effect in their families and communities towards forming sustainable societies.

Committed to enterprise-wide sustainability, Ceylinco Life is in the process of building a network of Green branches on company-owned land. These new buildings are solar-powered; have rainwater harvesting facilities and waste water recycling systems that minimise the use of pipe-borne water, are designed for optimal use of natural light and are equipped with the latest energy-efficient lighting and air conditioning systems.

The company has also embarked on an initiative to restore and maintain fifty hectares (123.5 acres) of land owned by the Department of Forest Conservation in the Puttalam range in collaboration with the University of Kelaniya, as part of its commitment to the environment and its effort to achieve zero carbon emissions status.