St. Regis Packaging has reduced the environmental impact of one of its paper sacks significantly, supporting the tea industry’s efforts to go green.
An assessment conducted by the Carbon Consulting Company (CCC), a leading provider of corporate sustainability solutions, confirms that the new three-ply paper sack developed by St. Regis Packaging helps save a considerable number of trees by using less paper, a company spokesman said.
It is estimated that almost 2,000 metric tonnes of paper is imported annually to produce approximately three million multi-wall paper sacks used in the tea industry.
With the new product, the same number of bags of the same quality and barrier properties can be produced with a 15 percent saving on paper, the company said. The amount of carbon sequestered as result of the new product will be equivalent to almost 4.2 metric tonnes of CO2 per year, he said.
“This is an important breakthrough that will carry a great deal of weight in the environment conscious markets of the world for pure Ceylon Tea,” Head of Sales and Marketing at St. Regis Packaging, Vasantha Wanigasooriya said. “We will progressively make a complete change in the market through our products, and our team will continue to look for ways to make our entire product portfolio more sustainable,” he said.
Director General/CEO of the Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI), Gamini Dharmawardena, who presented St. Regis Packaging with a certificate extending the company’s SLS certification to cover the new paper sack, commended St. Regis on its commitment to continuous improvement.