Elephant House supports Zerotrash, Plasticcycle to invest in collection centre for recycling

Ceylon Cold Stores, Plasticcyle and Zerotrash representatives exchanged agreements. From left: Zerotrash Co-Founder Hasanka Padukka, Zerotrash Co-Founder Heminda Jayaweera, JKH Consumer Foods President Daminda Gamlath, JKH Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer – Consumer Foods Nelindra Fernando, JKH Executive Vice President and Head of Corporate Finance/Group Tax and Social Entrepreneurship Project Nisreen Rehmanjee, and JKH Assistant Vice President, Head of Corporate Communications, Head of Operations – Social Entrepreneurship Project/Group Lead – Diversity and Inclusion Kumudu Munasinghe 

Elephant House has pledged their support for Zerotrash in collaboration with ‘Plasticcycle’, the social entrepreneurship project of John Keells Group to promote recycling and better plastic waste management practices across the country. 

This initiative will be funded by Elephant House for a period of two years and will support the development of a waste collection centre with dedicated transport and service personnel to collect post-consumption recyclable plastic from collection points. 

Zerotrash will focus on the collection and delivery of recyclable plastics to this dedicated collection centre which will be situated in Boralesgamuwa where all waste disposed at the location will be segregated according to the different types of plastics to avoid further mismanagement of plastic waste. 

Through this partnership, Elephant House together with Plasticcycle and Zerotrash will aim to provide better access to and awareness on the disposal of plastic with the intention of extending the lifecycle post consumption recyclables. 

Commenting on the project John Keells Group President Consumer Foods Industry Group Daminda Gamlath said: “As a well-loved household brand and responsible corporate citizen, Elephant House is delighted to be contributing towards further development of proper waste disposal and recycling. 

“Through our partnership with ‘Plasticcycle’, we will focus on increasing the number of locations where the public can dispose plastic responsibly. We are constantly looking at innovative ways to minimise the impact of plastic usage and supporting responsible waste management.”

Zerotrash CEO Hasanka Padukka stated: “We all have a role to play as individuals and it is the responsibility of each of us to make Sri Lanka a sustainable and greener place for future generations. We believe in our partners and are confident that this partnership will greatly benefit the nation.”

Reflecting on the partnership John Keells Group President Leisure Industry Group and Social Entrepreneurship Suresh Rajendra added: “Partnerships between ‘Plasticcycle’ and the operating companies within the John Keells Group continuously seek out sustainable solutions towards the reduction and rationalisation of use of single use plastics, supporting responsible disposal and promoting recycling initiatives.

“The establishment of a dedicated collection centre in the Colombo district by Zero Trash, a project funded by Ceylon Cold Stores PLC and supported by ‘Plasticcycle’, will provide for an efficient ecosystem towards the collection and segregation of plastic waste which will enable a greater quantity of such waste to reach recyclers rather than ending up in our dump yards and waterways. 

“The infrastructure in place through this collaboration, will also support the expansion of the ‘Plasticcycle’ bin network, making it easier for all of us to recycle our plastic waste.”

Ceylon Cold Stores PLC, manufacturer and distributor of Elephant House brand, is a subsidiary of John Keells Holdings PLC (JKH), Sri Lanka's largest listed company in the Colombo Stock Exchange operating over 70 companies in seven diverse industry sectors. 

Initiated with a vision of being the catalyst in significantly reducing plastic pollution in Sri Lanka, ‘Plasticcycle’ was launched in 2017 through the introduction of bins to collect recyclable plastic waste. Following the overwhelmingly positive public response, the project expanded vastly and currently has 200 bins placed across the island. 

Zerotrash is a service provider in the collection, hauling, segregation and transfer of waste to recyclers, offering residential and commercial waste management services. Zerotrash works towards bridging the gap between households, corporates and in streamlining the process of collection. 

The company will be involved in collecting from all the ‘Plasticcycle’ bins in the Colombo District and will develop a dedicated collection centre in Colombo as the first step and expand the operation in the future.