Noritake Lanka becomes first in industry to obtain ISO-accredited Carbon Footprint Verification

From left: Head of Technical and QA Susil Samarasinghe, Director/General Manager Sujatha Egodagedara, Deputy Chairman/Managing Director Kenji Obara, Environment Ministry Secretary Dr. Anil Jasinghe and Senior Director T.C. Tennakoon at the ceremony

Marking another milestone in its 50-year journey of excellence in Sri Lanka, Noritake Lanka Porcelain (Pvt.) Ltd (NLPL) obtained the ISO 14064-1:2018-accredited GHG Carbon Footprint Verification. 
At an event recently held at NLPL’s Colombo office, Environment Ministry Secretary Dr. Anil Jasinghe, who was also the chief guest gracing the occasion, presented the certificate to NLPL Deputy Chairman/Managing Director Kenji Obara.

NLPL is the first company in the porcelain and ceramic sector as well as inorganic and nonmetallic sector in Sri Lanka to receive ISO 14064-1:2018-accredited GHG Carbon Footprint Certification. The latest certification adds to NLPL’s previous ISO certifications of ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018 for Quality, Environment, Safety and Health, respectively. 

Resting on the pillars of ‘Good quality’, ‘Export’ and ‘Co-prosperity’, the Noritake group regards the conservation of the environment to be critical for management and seeks to contribute to the realisation of a sustainable society through all its business activities. Since Noritake first began manufacturing western-style tableware for export in 1904, it has grown in reach with 25 subsidiaries and seven affiliated companies in Japan and overseas as the Noritake group. The company began its operations in Sri Lanka 
in 1973.

Following the awarding of the GHG Carbon Footprint Verification Certificate, Dr. Jasinghe remarked that minimising the carbon footprint is very much an integral part of environmental social governance, which organisations take very seriously today. Sri Lanka Climate Fund affiliated to the Environment Ministry, which is the awarding body of Carbon Footprint Verification, is the first of its kind in South Asia to be accredited and it targets to achieve net zero CO2 
by 2050. 

“The move towards reducing the carbon footprint also helps businesses to be sustainable,” Dr. Jasinghe pointed out further.
Implementing the GHG system at NLPL and obtaining the GHG Carbon Footprint Certification is a means of benchmarking itself with its mother company in Japan, which aims to reduce the CO2 emissions by 50 percent in 2030 and zero emissions by 2050, remarked Obara. 
“We have formulated this strategy with medium to long-term perspectives in mind,” said Obara, who also noted that it is not merely a strategy but a commitment by Noritake towards the world at large. 

The quantification of carbon value by NLPL was done under the five principles of relevance, completeness, consistency, accuracy and transparency. In a bid to translate the certificate to a system, which would provide results, NLPL was provided the able guidance of former Sri Lanka Standards Institution Director General Dr. Lalith Senaweera, an eminent consultant in quality and sustainability, who trained the NLPL staff to implement the GHG system within the organisation. 

Senior Director T.C. Tennakoon remarked that in the base year of 2021, the inventory was equivalent to 10782 CO2 metric tonnes and that NLPC has taken strategic actions to mitigate the situation. NLPL’s efforts to become a carbon-neutral company is not only in line with its mother company’s commitment to reduce environmental burden but also the means of revisiting the 7Rs of ‘Rethink’, ‘Refuse’, ‘Reduce’, ‘Reuse’, ‘Recycle’, ‘Repurpose ‘and ‘Rot’. 
“The certificate is also going to reflect very strongly on our branding strategy,” noted Tennakoon further.