NCPCSL shines at Global Chemical Leasing Award

Friday, 17 April 2015 05:03 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Secures two bronze awards for consultancy services and Personal Relations The National Cleaner Production Centre Sri Lanka (NCPCSL) won two bronze awards for consultancy services and Personal Relations at the Global Chemical Leasing Awards recently. The awards ceremony is sponsored and supported by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and was thought up during the proceedings of the 17th Annual Biocides Conference held on 10 December 2014. Applications for the Global Chemical Leasing Awards were obtained from 20 countries and recognised international experts from the worlds of industry, academia and government evaluated all applications in accordance with the Chemical Leasing Award Guidelines. NCPC has introduced the chemical leasing concept to different industrial segments such as the agro, printing, paint and water treatment sectors. NCPC is introducing the chemical leasing model to the Sri Lankan agriculture sector. In line with this several pilot projects were conducted to identify the application potential of the business model in the sector.

During the study, the chemical leasing approach was applied to the vegetable cultivation sector parallel to the conventional farming approach. The results showed that the chemical leasing approach accounted for more than 40% of agrochemicals cost savings. The pilot project was conducted in the Nuwara Eliya District with the support of the UNIDO Global Chemical Leasing program. This pilot project won a bronze award at the Global Chemical Leasing Awards 2012 Finlays Tea Estates introduced the chemical leasing model, a new concept and a business model of efficient chemical usage, applied worldwide in many sectors that use chemicals, which is facilitated by NCPCSL and UNIDO. This is an innovative business approach which provided the opportunity to increase benefits for both partners. Furthermore, it facilitates the optimisation of the production process and reduces the environmental impact caused by the use of agrochemicals.

This project also encourages the reduction of waste and the adoption of recycling processes where possible. The project team attended the International Conference on Sustainable Chemistry and Chemical Leasing: Paving the way for inclusive and sustainable industrial development, which coincided with the Global Chemical Leasing Award Ceremony in Vienna, Austria. Although there are success stories around the world in other industries where chemicals are used this was the first time the concept had been applied in the tea plantation sector. The initiatives were taken to challenge the status quo therefore UNIDO awarded a special acknowledgement certificate for the pilot project as recognition of the breakthrough approach taken to introduce the concept of chemical leasing to Finlays on the theme of ‘Chemical leasing goes Agro’ at the Global Chemical Leasing Award Ceremony held in Vienna on 12 December 2014.