IFC partners MAS Holdings to improve water, energy and resource efficiency

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is partnering with leading apparel company MAS Holdings to assess areas for resource efficiency across three of its factories in Sri Lanka. This will help the company save costs, prevent waste, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Under this project, IFC will assess and recommend measures that can help MAS Holdings improve efficiency in its operations, lower usage of water, energy and chemicals, and increase water reuse. IFC will also support the implementation of these recommendations.

MAS has set a goal to reduce its energy usage intensity by 50%, and water usage by 75% by 2025.

“Globally, the textile sector faces critical environmental challenges associated with resource-use that leaves a large footprint on the world’s environment,” said MAS Holdings Sustainability Director Sharika Senanayake. “At MAS Holdings, we have made three clear commitments to create positive impact on the environment and managing our footprint is just one of them. We are glad to have IFC’s expertise and support on these initiatives.”

The program will build on the extensive experience of IFC’s Bangladesh Partnership for Cleaner Textile (PaCT) program, which focuses on providing advice on implementing cleaner production practices in over 236 textile factories in Bangladesh, resulting in savings of 21 billion litters of water a day, and energy savings of 2.5 million MWh per day. This is the first time that the IFC PaCT program will be implemented in Sri Lanka. 

“We are pleased to partner with MAS to explore ways in which Sri Lanka’s apparel sector, which is critical to the economy, can grow in a sustainable way,” said IFC Country Manager (Sri Lanka and the Maldives) Amena Arif. “Cleaner production measures can reduce the use of natural resources, mitigate threats to humans and the environment, promoting greater overall efficiency through improved production practices.”

Sri Lanka’s apparel sector accounts for almost 7% of the country’s GDP and 38% of its total exports, making it the country’s second largest foreign exchange earner. The sector is Sri Lanka’s largest employer with a workforce of over 300,000 individuals, of which a majorityare women, employed in over 850 factories.