SUSTAINABLE RUBBER INDUSTRY

What is Sustainability?

Sustainability is meeting our needs and wants without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This concept came into play in 1987 after the western societies started to discover that their economic and Industrial activities had a significant impact on Environment & Social balance. It consists of the following three main concepts.

• PEOPLE - “People” refers to all possible stakeholders
• PLANET - “Planet” refers to engaging in environmentally positive activities designed to remove as much carbon dioxide as their environmentally negative activities contribute.
• PROFIT - “Profit” refers to the financial profit of the company itself.

Sri Lankan Sustainable Rubber Industry

Currently, Sri Lanka is the world's 13th Largest Rubber producer in the world. Sri Lanka is the number one manufacturer of the world’s highest quality natural latex crepe rubber and Lankaprene is the premium quality natural rubber type manufactured in Sri Lanka. This rubber type is highly used in medical equipment and upmarket value-added products locally and globally.

When it comes to the Sri Lankan rubber industry's capabilities,

• Sri Lanka is the Largest exporter of Industrial solid tires – Catering to nearly quarter of the Global demand.
• Fifth Largest exporter of Latex Gloves to the world.
• USD 1 Billion + Export income in 2021.

 The rubber sector in Sri Lanka is facing some problems due to the current situation in Sri Lanka including,

• Raw material price fluctuations
• Issues in chemical imports
• High cost of Machinery and technology transfer
• High cost of Energy
• High cost of Labor

 In order to overcome this problem, companies need to shift to a sustainable manufacturing concept. Companies should follow “The Triple Bottom Line” business concept to survive and gain a competitive advantage in the Rubber manufacturing sector. Sri Lanka is targeting to increase the Rubber products export value to 8.05 Billion in 2045 through Sustainability.

Sustainable Manufacturing at Samson International PLC

Samson International PLC is considered one of the most environmentally concerned manufacturing companies in Sri Lanka since its start of the company. Going forward with the new Sustainable concept,

• Samson International PLC installed a new solar power system investing more than 300 Million rupees to reduce the company’s carbon footprint. From this project, Samson International PLC can contribute to People by reducing global warming by reducing the carbon footprint, Planet by Using Sustainable energy and saving resources, and the Company Profit by saving the cost of energy.

• Water Purifier system to clean and reuse the water for machinery and other requirements.

• Wastage Recycling to reuse the rubber for manufacturing or manufacture alternative rubber products using them.

• Partner with Forest Stewardship Council to gain the FSCTM certification to manufacture and distribute FSCTM certified sustainable rubber products to ensure the sustainable development of suppliers and their communities. Currently Samson International PLC is exporting Sustainable products to Europe market including United Kingdom and Germany.