Cleaner production champs recognised

Thursday, 27 January 2011 00:51 -     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Shezna Shums

The 2010 National Cleaner Production Awards, the fourth successive event, was held yesterday to recognise excellence in sustainable practices.

The Awards event has now established itself as a national event which entrepreneurs look forward to participate.

Today these awards are presented to progressive companies and service organisations that have voluntarily adopted cleaner production as a tool for increasing their production efficiency while at the same time eliminating or at least minimising their waste and emissions at source rather than treating them after they have been generated.

It was in 2007, with the completion of five years of work in promotion and implementation of Cleaner Production on Sri Lanka, NCPC organised a National Cleaner Production Awards Programme to appreciate and recognise enterprises who have contributed to conserve resources and minimise waste generation in their day to day operations.

Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Secretary, Tilak Collure said that industrial development is vital for the entire country. He added that Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) play an admirable role in the development of the country.

“SME needs technical and managerial assistance to meet the global standards,” he added.

In meeting such demands, the SME’s may use resources that harm the environment and may lead to unsustainable development, which is why Cleaner Production can play an important role in their progress.

Cleaner Production can help to have a safer and cleaner environment and thereby help their enterprise.

Keynote speaker FCCCISL President Tissa Jayaweera said that Sri Lanka is an emerging country that will have to face the challenges of the world. He added that Sri Lanka should be more demanding with regard to quality than price of the product and services that they are paying for and not simply accept everything that is sold in the market.

The specific objectives of the Cleaner Production Awards are —  

To recognise and appreciate business that have performed well in resource conservation and carried out operations in an environmentally friendly manner

To make enterprises environmentally compliant using profitable and voluntary approaches To encourage the habit of measurement and monitoring of important consumption parameters in the production process To educate business on techniques and models of cleaner production that are suitable for their needs

To create a critical mass of business leaders that will help promote the application of cleaner production

To direct public attention towards the importance of cleaner production as a tool for increased business productivity and competitiveness

To provide a comparative marketing advantage for firms that win awards

 

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