Six apparel manufacturing factories are now being in the fore front of implementing innovative garment production strategy in the Northern and Eastern Provinces for the global market in a big officials of the organizations said.
Away from the city lights, sitting serenely among the lush green agricultural basin of the country’s North and East, five organisations in particular, are forging a new blueprint for scalable sustainable apparel manufacturing that may prove to be of global relevance.
Six manufacturing plants – MAS Kreeda Vaanavil, MAS Intimates Vidiyal, Hirdaramani Apparel Vavuniya, Omega Line Vavuniya, Brandix Batticaloa, and Eskimo Fashion Knitwear Ltd have each taken the lead to integrate sustainable best practices and institute lean manufacturing principles.
Their success has brought with it employment, innovation, and most importantly, sustainable growth to a region once devastated by armed ethnic conflict.
Yet what truly sets these organisations apart is their commitment to integrate, adapt and continuously refine sustainable processes, practices and models from the grassroots.
Each organisation developed every step of their production aligned with their broader goals of augmenting the region’s agriculture-dependent economy without disruption or the sensitive ecosystems connected to it. T
This has, in turn, created sustainable economic growth firmly linked to social development realising value in a realistic green value chain.
For Hirdaramani Apparel Vavuniya, the initial focus was on the integration of sustainable principles into the literal foundations of their operations.
From the design phase onwards, all construction and engineering were implemented in compliance with green building standards including an onsite domestic wastewater treatment and a recycling facility.
It ensures that 100% of wastewater from the production process is treated and reused. Further, a rooftop solar of the capacity of 975kW is also installed in this facility.
Similarly, Omega Line Vavuniya was among the first in the region to introduce a comprehensive “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” approach across all material inputs.
Today, Omega Line, along with its parent company Calzedonia in Italy, aims to convert its facilities to utilize 100% renewable energy for production by 2030.
MAS aims to reduce its emissions footprint to achieve an absolute reduction of 25.2% in its Plan for Change, which outlines 12 sustainable commitments through to 2025. These include systemic reduction of direct emissions as well mitigating secondary impacts through carpooling.
As emerging players, Eskimo Fashion Knitwear Ltd is also integrating sustainable best practices across its operations.
Accordingly, energy-efficient equipment, in-house solar, water management strategies, waste reduction programs, eco-friendly materials and fair labour practices are all integrated into the production chain. Meanwhile, Brandix transitioned to low Watt VSD Servo Motors saving up to 73% more energy than traditional clutch motors. Upgraded equipment also enabled a 40% saving of pressured air in the ironing process.
