Nestlé Lanka invests over Rs.1bn on biomass boiler

Furthering its investment in the country despite volatilities, with its strong focus on sustainability, Nestlé Lanka PLC yesterday announced a biomass boiler project with an investment in excess of Rs.1 billion at its state-of-the-art factory in Kurunegala.

The project is expected contribute significantly towards the company’s endeavour of achieving net zero emissions across the value chain by 2050. 
Planned to begin mid-2023, this investment project will be conducted under a build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) agreement with Thermax Energy & Environment Lanka (Private) Limited.

The company has in place a comprehensive roadmap spanning across the entire value chain from farm to end-of-shelf-life, towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2025 and 50 percent by 2030, ultimately achieving net zero emissions by 2050. 

As such, the construction of this biomass boiler is a significant milestone in Nestlé’s sustainability journey in Sri Lanka, resulting in an approximate 37 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in manufacturing, a press release by the company said. Having started its operations in 1984, today, Nestlé Lanka’s Kurunegala factory manufactures over 90 percent of Nestlé products sold in the country. 

A press conference was held yesterday to announce the investment with the participation of Minister of Industries and Plantations,  Ramesh Pathirana; Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Dr. Anil Jasinghe and Swiss Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives Dominik Furgler along with officials from Nestlé Lanka, including Managing Director, Jason Avanceña, and Managing Director – Designate, Bernhard Stefan.

“Throughout our operations spanning over 115 years, Nestlé has never wavered in our commitment and endeavour of positively impacting Sri Lankans, be it with our continuous investments, tastier and healthier choices, contribution towards local communities or our initiatives towards a greener and cleaner Sri Lanka. It gives me immense pride to lead by example and embark on this project, which would result in a significant positive impact to the planet,” Jason Avanceña, Managing Director of Nestlé Lanka, said.

He also said the project would help reduce foreign currency outflows from the country with the reduced use of fossil fuel in our operations.