Lanka Leather Fashion celebrates five years of carbon neutrality

From left: Gayan Anthony from Lanka Leather Fashion, Lanka Leather Fashion CEO Marco Weidamann, Carbon Consulting Company CEO Sanith S. de Silva Wijeyeratne, Carbon Consulting Company Asst. Manager – Sustainability Assurance and Advisory Services Sajeewa Ranasinghe and Carbon Consulting Company Asst. Manager – Client Relationship Management Ruwanthi Halwala

Lanka Leather Fashion Ltd. (LLF), one of Asia’s most renowned leather manufacturers and suppliers to fashion brands such as Hugo Boss, Gerry Weber, Michael Kors and Taleco, demonstrated its commitment to being an environmentally conscious company by renewing its carbon neutral status for a fifth consecutive year. 

It was recognised for its significant achievement with a special commemorative plaque by the developer of The CarbonNeutral Protocol and the world’s leading provider of carbon offset solutions – Natural Capital Partners of the UK. 

LLF’s certification was awarded by Natural Capital Partners’ regional partner, The Sustainable Future Group (SFG), Sri Lanka’s only accredited verification and certification body that is authorised to verify and validate Organisational and Project-level Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Inventories according to the official GHG Reporting ISO Standard – ISO 14064. 

The certification renewal included an in-depth assessment of LLF’s organisational GHG emissions that was conducted by leading sustainability experts, The Carbon Consulting Company (CCC), and the subsequent investment in a Renewable Energy Project in return for registered Carbon Credits/Offsets. 

As part of LLF’s initiative to lower the company’s carbon footprint, it regularly measures, monitors and manages its operational carbon footprint, thereby maintaining a clear understanding of further changes and processes that need to be implemented on an ongoing basis. 

For instance, LLF was able to have a reduction of almost 10% of its overall emissions from last year through better and more efficient management of its freight and exports. The company also invests in new technologies such as the Italian automated leather cutters, which result in faster production, thereby reducing any associated emissions and further decreasing its operational expenses. 

CCC CEO Sanith de S. Wijeyratne commended LLF’s long-term commitment towards monitoring, managing and negating its operational carbon footprint for the past five years by stating, “Lanka Leather Fashion is a prime example of an industry leader in sustainability. By being a responsible manufacturer, LLF paves a path for other textile and leather producers to reduce their Carbon Footprint, focusing on continuous sustainability by obtaining globally-accepted credentials such as the CarbonNeutral Certification.”

LLF CEO Marco Weidemann commented on their achievement: “Sustainability plays a key role in the business operations at LLF. We are proud of the measures we have taken to minimise our impact on the environment. Our efforts to become CarbonNeutral are in line with our core mission to preserve natural resources, contribute towards conservation and mitigate our impact on the planet. We appreciate the guidance the Carbon Consulting Company has provided us for the past five years and look forward to working with them to build a greener future.”