Siddhalepa only Ayurveda company to triumph at Presidential Environment Awards once again

Siddhalepa Director Lankani Hettigoda receiving the award on behalf of the company. From left: Central Environment Authority Director General P.B. Hemantha Jayasinghe, Mahaweli Development Authority Secretary Anura Dissanayake, State Minister of Mahaweli Development and Environment Ajith Mannaperuma and (extreme right) Central Environment Authority Chairman Isuru Devapriya

Continuing its successful spree of being among the top winners of green awards, Siddhalepa was honoured once again with a Silver Trophy at the Presidential Environment Awards 2019, held recently. 

The award in the Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Product Category was for excellence in their work towards Environmental Conservation. 

Siddhalepa has consistently raised its bar for green standards diligently working on its green approaches in the industry and CSR commitments to maintain and improve its focus on environment protection in all its manufacturing processes and in its plantations. 

An all-encompassing and well-defined Environmental Management System, ISO 14001:2015 is in operation to mitigate the environmental impact of overall industrial activities.

The company’s green approaches are steered mainly through an environmental policy of adopting the 3R principle, landscaping, emission control and the reduction of the carbon footprint.

Siddhalepa has so far achieved a 20% deduction in Green House Gas (GHG) Emission from 2017-2018 through carbon set off projects. 

The company has so far achieved a carbon footprint reduction by 57 tones CO2, set off 9 tones CO2 through carbon sequestration processes in their plantations. 

The company’s comprehensive Carbon Management Plan includes establishing energy efficiency appliances and resource optimisation, establishing a green procurement policy, participating in more carbon neutral projects, identifying GHG reduction opportunities and creating awareness on the impacts of the climate change. 

The company’s green approaches also include the 3R principle where the international environment norm of reduce, recycle and reuse is practiced using effective waste management methods for all other types of waste in the company.

Its solid waste management program is a combination of several strategies: for minimisation of waste generation, minimisation of non-degradable materials, biodegradable materials and polythene and a strategy for overall energy saving and minimisation of waste water generation. 

The company also continuously works on developing new green energy sources. One such project is the preparation of briquettes using Asamodagam seeds and herbal residuals as an alternative fuel for biomass boilers. Herbal raw materials are dried using a sun drier.

This is the third consecutive win for Siddhalepa at the Presidential Environment Awards. They have also won awards at the National Cleaner Production Awards for water efficiency, material efficiency and production practices from 2009 to 2011.   

“This achievement of being among the top winners for three consecutive years, underscores our commitment to living with harmony which is a fundamental principle of Ayurveda,” said Director Lankani Hettigoda. “As we grow our business and expand our operations our attention and commitment towards sustainability and a greener Sri Lanka, continuously evolves to reach our company’s aspirations of creating a healthy, holistic lifestyle for all our people,” she added. 

The company’s nationwide campaign an innovative project for schoolchildren – the Herbal Garden has been hailed as a pioneering and unique environment program which encourages children at a very young age to contribute to protecting our environment. In a country-wide program, schoolchildren are trained to grow indigenous herbs in their school premises and care for the garden with assistance provided by for plants, tools, manure, etc. by Siddhalepa. 

The company also runs a highly successful national waste management program at key religious sites including Sri Pada, Kataragama, Nallur Kovil, Ragama Basilica, etc., and maternity homes in the entire country. Storage containers for raw material are modified as waste bins, segregated into various forms of disposables and distributed to these sites to be used to manage waste. 

Among the other CSR projects undertaken by Siddhalepa are the free medical camps for international calendar events like World Diabetes Day, Elders’ Day, Women’s Day, Children’s day, etc., an IT training centre for Parama Dhamma Chethiya Pirivena, and dengue awareness programs.