Tokyo Cement Group won two prestigious awards that reinstate its industry leadership position at the Annual Green Awards 2023 event, organized by the Ceylon Institute of Builders (CIOB). Tokyo Cement Group won the apex Platinum Award for Sustainable Leadership in the Construction Industry in recognition of its Renewable Energy Generation Programme which makes its entire local cement manufacturing process 100% energy independent. The Gold Award in the category was won by Tokyo Supermix (Pvt) Limited; Tokyo Cement Group’s Ready-Mix Concrete (RMC) business unit, in recognition of the comprehensive Wastewater Recycling System implemented across its island-wide RMC plants network. These two awards are the most recent seals of approval received by the Tokyo Cement Group honouring its industry-defining and commendable commitment to sustainability.
Hon. Dinesh Gunawardena, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka was the Chief Guest at the event which culminated during the World Construction Symposium, and was also graced by Hon. Susil Premajayantha, Minister of Education, and Hon. Suren Raghawan, State Minister for Higher Education as Guests of Honor. The distinguished guests at the event were lead by Dr. Rohan Karunaratne – President, and Eng. Saliya Kaluarachchi – Hon. Secretary of the Ceylon Institute of Builders among other prominent industry stalwarts. The CIOB, the premier professional organization of building and construction professionals in Sri Lanka together with University of Moratuwa (UOM) organized this year’s flagship awards ceremony for the 11th consecutive year.
The Annual Green Awards is a platform to encourage environmentally conscious business practices by evaluating remarkable sustainability efforts in the Sri Lankan construction industry. This year, the eminent panel of judges were headed by Prof. A.K.W. Jayawardane as the Chairman and comprised of Prof. Chitra Weddikkara, Dr. Tissa Meepe, Dr. Ashan Asmone and Eng. Saliya Kaluarachchi as committee members.
Tokyo Cement Group, as Sri Lanka’s largest manufacturer of cement, concrete, and cement-based innovative products, has won multiple accolades in recognition of its standard-setting sustainability practices. Adding to the many awards received over its forty-year history, earlier this year Tokyo Cement also won the Gold Medal in the Chemical Industries Category at the Presidential Environmental Awards 2021-22 organized by the Central Environmental Authority (CEA). This stands proof of Tokyo Cement’s unwavering commitment to enrich and conserve the environment by making Sustainability a key business priority.
Tokyo Cement Group, as the industry leader, has made several strategic investments to minimize its environmental footprint. First among them is its highly admired renewable biomass energy programme. The Group pioneered biomass energy generation in Sri Lanka to promote greater national energy security with a total installed capacity of 24MW. The Group also exports up to 8MW of biomass and Dendro power and 600kW of solar power to the grid, thereby increasing the national renewable energy contribution. This green energy programme engages nearly 2,500 farming families, via direct and indirect employment, who have so far planted more than 7.5 million Gliricidia trees contributing to the Group’s collective sustainability efforts. By operating a community trade supply chain with the local farmers to source biomass fuel, the Group retains a major portion of the energy bill within the country instead of spending it on imported fossil fuels, whilst enabling critical cashflow to the rural economy.
The contributing reduction of carbon impact by Tokyo Cement is further attested through the Company’s distinguished product brand TOKYO SUPER Cement, which has won both the Green Mark® (Singapore) Certification from the CIOB, and the GREENSL® Labelling System Certification from the Green Building Council of Sri Lanka (GBCSL), making it the Greenest Cement in the market.
Tokyo Supermix received the Gold Award at the CIOB Green Awards 2023 for its comprehensive wastewater recycling system which allows to reuse 90% of the water used daily for aggregate wetting, concrete mixing, and to wash inbuilt tanks after unloading mixer trucks at all RMC plants across the island. Out of the large volume of water recycled through the system annually, approximately 12 million liters is reused in concrete mixing while the remainder is used in the washing process in a close-looped cycle, significantly reducing its environmental footprint. The entire waste management programme deployed by Tokyo Supermix also takes care of waste concrete and cement sludge, and the concrete samples used for quality testing are recycled to produce Reef Balls that are used in Tokyo Cement’s Coral Reef Restoration programme.
Furthermore, Tokyo Cement Group leads several highly impactful, science-based conservation efforts that include Mangrove Reforestation, Coral Reef Restoration, and a Native Forest Tree Propagation programme among others as part of its sustainability drive. Whilst the Group’s promise on sustainability comes to life through these far-reaching initiatives, Tokyo Cement has earned the reputation as the most trusted supplier of high-quality cement, concrete and cement-based innovative products in Sri Lanka. By successfully integrating social welfare and environmental conservation into its mission to enrich the country, its people and the environment, Tokyo Cement Group has reaffirmed its position as the leading partner in Nation-building.
