By Yakuta Dawood  The Develop It Yourself (DIY) column of The Sunday Morning Business this week features Eco Spindles, a company that not only recycles products but is also the largest yarn producer in the country. Speaking to us, Beira Parawood Products Ltd. (BPPL) Holdings PLC (the parent company of Eco Spindles) Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr. Anush Amarasinghe stated that the goal of the company is to convert the existing raw materials into value-added products.  He mentioned that the company has been fortunately able to find products that could be produced using the existing plastic waste materials, thereby positively impacting society, consumers, and the country. Since its inception, Eco Spindles has reduced the country’s carbon footprint by recycling about 380 million bottles to date, with more than 360,000 PET bottles being recycled into yarn for apparel and fibre on a daily basis. However, being equipped with one of the only two plants in the world capable of creating yarn directly from recycled PET flakes, the company is able to produce a variety of products, which we discuss below. Eco Spindles produces products manufactured from polyester yarn, which are excessively used in the local apparel industry, and also complementing accessories such as caps, socks/hosiery, etc. The other products are automotive products such as car seats, bedding, footwear, furnishing, industrial wear such as gloves, medical accessories, and outdoor equipment. Besides these, some other products, produced with mono-filaments, are indoor brooms, toilet brushes, car wash brooms, cosmetic products, paintbrushes, hygiene products, street brooms, cobweb brushes, and yard brooms. Commenting on their expansion plans, Dr. Amarasinghe stated that the company is currently in the next phase of expanding its collection centres, meaning that plans are in place to further expand into recycling paper, glass, aluminium, and other materials that can be recycled and made into useful products.  Simultaneously, the company is also in the process of increasing the efficiency of some of the collection mechanisms and processes in the country by sprucing them up. Explaining, he said that if you take the local authorities, several pradeshiya sabhas, for instance, do not have the necessary mechanisms setup to collect recycling materials separately; neither do they have the resources to find appropriate people to sell them to. Explaining how Eco Spindles will assist these local authorities, he said: “We’ve got to do a lot of operational work in activating those collection networks. Through this operational model, pradeshiya sabhas can earn revenue by collecting plastic waste material; they can make extra money by selling this to us or to small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) that are established across the country. Later, it’ll also use the collection bags and bins that are being distributed to rural areas, which makes collecting an easier task for our collecting agents, as the items are segregated accordingly.”  Presently, Eco Spindles gets its PET bottles from sources across the island, largely from distributors such as beverage companies, bottle collectors, hotels, dump yards, municipal and urban councils, and other manufacturers. Moreover, the recent launch of the “Waste 2 Value” app also enables any person across the island to locate bins to dispose of PET plastic.  Plans of expansion  Dr. Amarasinghe stated that for a developing country like Sri Lanka, there is a vast potential for expansion in terms of the development of the waste collection infrastructure, which needs attention. “There is no point in saying that we will collect waste and produce goods unless we can collect and provide an adequate supply of PET bottles to our recycling facility. This is because of the demand by those large industries and markets that we serve and cater to. So, the next phase of growth involves scaling up existing PET collection and recycling infrastructure in Sri Lanka,” he noted.  Explaining, Dr. Amarasinghe highlighted that the focus would be to set up centralised collection points across the country, ensuring that the collection centres and bins are set up with the help of independent SME waste collectors; that those operations are viable, profitable, and generate a return for those companies around those sectors; and then being also able to provide the necessary infrastructure to those centres like building infrastructure, vehicles for transporting plastic waste material, bailing machines, etc. Additionally, it is also making sure that the collection centres are adhering to ethics, implementing health and safety regulations, looking after the employees, and ensuring that there are proper payments being made for the bottles brought in by collectors, or, for that matter, whatever recyclable material is being collected.  Speaking with regards to the challenges, Dr. Amarasinghe revealed that, more than anything else, it has to do with the time involved in rolling out the waste collection networks to start setting up recycling infrastructure systems in the country. “We need to set up this infrastructure in these collection centres across the country. We have to expand in these areas fast because the demand for the products that we produce with those recycled materials is growing rapidly. So, that is a challenge for us, the scale and speed at which we have to set it up,” he mentioned.  In the meantime, the Government is in the process of banning the use of certain plastic products in the country. Right now, the concentration is on single-use plastics, but in the near future, further measures could impact entities that focus their livelihood on recycling such products. When inquired if Eco Spindles could get impacted by this initiative of the Government, Dr. Amarasinghe said that as a Board of Investment (BOI)-approved company, the agreement signed between the parties involved will enable them to import bottles from other countries to continue their production. “Part of the agreement states that if we can’t access these bottles locally, then we can import, not in garbage form, but in the wash-clean form. Here, when we collect the bottles, we take them and send them to our washing plant, and we produce these washed and clean plastic bottles before we convert them into flakes/pellets. So, as a company, we will be okay,” he noted.  Adding further, as an expert in the field, Dr. Amarasinghe stated that the current legislative approach taken by the Government is correct, considering the fact that these approaches are more along the lines of banning the single-use plastic that cannot be recycled. However, he said that banning plastic entirely is not the right thing to do, as there is no cost-effective alternative to plastic packaging that could be currently used today. Elaborating, he stated that today, companies are able to sell different types of products such as food and water at affordable price points because the packaging provides for that flexibility. “Plastic packaging helps ease distribution and transport of the item too. Products which were once confined to the more affluent areas are now available across the country. By banning (plastic altogether), most of those communities who were able to access and enjoy some of these beverages that you and I take for granted, won’t be able to. So, the solution is not completely banning but rather to recycle as much as possible; so the solution is to promote recycling and then to have the necessary infrastructure in place to provide as much recycling as possible,” he added.  The future ahead  Operating the company with about 250 employees and using state-of-the-art technology to produce polyester for the Sri Lankan market and abroad, Eco Spindles really does show promise for a better future, in terms of creating a sustainable environment, reducing import expenditure, and generating foreign exchange for the country.  Eco Spindles is also an exporter, as its yarn products are sold to China, India, the US, Turkey, and Israel, and the group also has an estimated global market share of 55% in Australia and New Zealand, and 10% in North America in the production and export of professional and household cleaning tools. Nevertheless, when inquired if the export market will be further expanded, Dr. Amarasinghe stated that the initial priority will be given to local manufactures, as Eco Spindles is the only full-fledged yarn producer in the country, thereby having a significant demand for yarn from big apparel industries and fabric mills in Sri Lanka.  “There is enough opportunity within Sri Lanka for us to expand at least for the next two or three years. We will try and fulfil all the requirements of Sri Lanka first before we go elsewhere. It makes a lot of sense because then we are fixing the plastic waste problem that Sri Lanka has whilst catering to the apparel industry, which currently imports yarn,” he explained. “Furthermore, in order to cater to the current demand, another new plant will be established and operational by March or April of 2022 – meaning, double the current capacity of yarn production.” When questioned about the goals set for the next five years, Dr. Amarasinghe said that the company hopes to replicate the current model that is used in Sri Lanka, in more countries.  “Once we achieve our vision in Sri Lanka, we need to move outside the country into other countries that have a vibrant apparel industry and a plastic problem and the same model that we have here in Sri Lanka can be replicated in those countries. There are certain countries in the African region, for example, where we can scale up a lot more, because those countries are bigger. The demand is much more when the plastic waste problem is that much more,” he highlighted.  In conclusion, Dr. Amarasinghe stressed the fact that it is important for consumers, as users of plastic packaging, to be conscious of disposing of said plastic in the correct manner, as it would make it easier to recycle said plastic, as it would be separate from other forms of garbage. Additionally, municipalities should also follow stringent segregation concepts, as segregation of garbage is very important.