News
St. Regis helps reduce Ceylon Tea Carbon Footprint with world’s first carbon-neutral bulk tea packaging
A game-changing world-first in the sphere of packaging for bulk teas by Sri Lanka’s St. Regis Packaging can potentially enhance the environmental credentials of Ceylon Tea on the global stage.
The inventor of the Rigid-T-sack that replaced plywood chests in the bulk packaging of large leaf teas in 1996, St. Regis has received the world’s first ZeroCarbon Product Certification in its category for the Company’s Rigid-T-Sacks as well as for Multiwall paper sacks used for the packaging of Leafy and Grainy Teas.
The certification means that Ceylon Tea packaged in these two types of St. Regis sacks for the Colombo Tea Auction or for export has offset the carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) of the packaging, reducing the overall product carbon footprint of the teas.
Significantly, St. Regis Packaging currently supplies sacks for over half the teas sold at the weekly Colombo Tea Auction, and this industry-first achievement could be a catalyst for greater interest in carbon footprint reduction for tea, the Company’s Director Ajith Fernando said.
He said approximately six million packages are auctioned at the Colombo Tea Auction annually and this would be an ideal opportunity for Colombo to become the first tea auction in the world to start offering teas in carbon neutral packages.
“St. Regis Packaging has many firsts to its name, and we are proud to be the first company in the world to offer carbon-neutral bulk tea packaging with two of our flagship products,” Mr Fernando said. “The benefit of having their carbon emissions compensated for can be passed-on to our customers, positively impacting their own carbon footprints. These certifications therefore represent an important value-addition for our customers, at no extra cost to them.”
St. Regis retained the expert services of The Climate and Conservation Consortium (CCC), one of South Asia’s leading Integrated Sustainability Solutions Providers, to assess the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions of the Company’s Multiwall Paper Sacks and Rigid-T-Sacks. This comprehensive Product Carbon Footprint study encompassed all applicable emissions during the ‘Cradle to Gate’ lifecycle stages of the selected types of tea sacks, including Raw Material Extraction, Upstream and Downstream Transportation, and Manufacturing.
Following the assessment, St. Regis retired a matching number of Carbon Credits from a registered project to bring the total Carbon Footprint of a selected volume of sacks down to net zero. The assessment results and offsetting process were then independently verified by The Sustainable Future Group (SFG), the first Validation and Verification Body (VVB) in South Asia to be accredited by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) to award ISO 14064-1, 14064-2, 14067, and 14065. Post verification, SFG awarded St. Regis their proprietary ZeroCarbon® Certification for the two packaging products.
In 1996, St. Regis changed a 130-year-old tradition by inventing and patenting the Rigid-T- Sack, enabling tea producers to replace the costly and environmentally unfriendly plywood chests used up to that point in the packaging of large leaf teas.
Besides inventing the Rigid-T-Sack, St. Regis has many other firsts to its name, including becoming the world’s first manufacturer of bulk packaging for tea to receive the ISO22000 and HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) certifications, the first manufacturer to receive the Sri Lanka Standard (SLS) certification for both Rigid-T-Sacks and Multiwall Paper Sacks, the first manufacturer of bulk packaging for tea to be certified compliant with FSSC22000, the highest food packaging certification in the world, and the first manufacturer in the sector to receive a carbon footprint assessment certificate.
St. Regis states the company wants to encourage the Tea Industry to maintain a “Green bottom line” and work towards making pure Ceylon Tea the first carbon neutral tea produced in the world, thereby maintaining and catering to a niche market. This is also in keeping with Sri Lanka’s Green economic policy, the company said.
“We believe that the quality of a corporate bottom line matters and that having a Green Bottom line covered with O2 is better than a bottom line marred by CO2,” Director Ajith Fernando added.
A discussion between President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and senior officials of the Urban Development Authority (UDA) was held this afternoon (18) at the Presidential Secretariat.
The meeting focused extensively on new development projects planned by the Urban Development Authority. The President emphasised the need to ensure that the budgetary allocations made for these projects in the current year are utilised effectively within the same financial year.
Detailed discussions were also held on projects planned to be implemented jointly by multiple institutions, including the importance of holding consultations with all relevant agencies to reach final decisions and the need to clearly define responsibilities for each institution in both implementation and maintenance phases of the projects.
Attention was drawn to key initiatives such as the Kelani River flood control project, water management projects in Colombo city and the Beira Lake restoration project. The need for a dedicated programme for low-income housing in areas such as Ratmalana and Moratuwa was also highlighted. During the discussion, Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban Development Bimal Rathnayake underscored the importance of introducing a structured management framework for the effective coordination of certain projects.
Deputy Minister of Urban Development, Eranga Gunasekara, Secretary to the Ministry of Transport, Highways and Urban Development, Senior Professor Kapila C.K. Perera, Chairman of the Urban Development Authority (UDA), M.G. Hemachandra and the Heads representing the Urban Settlement Development Authority (USDA), Sri Lanka Land Development Corporation (SLLDC), National Physical Planning Department (NPPD) and the Condominium Management Authority (CMA) were also present at the meeting.
(PMD)
News
CEAT Kelani Branch Inter-Company Employees’ Union makes donation to the ‘Rebuilding Sri Lanka’ Fund
The Inter-Company Employees’ Union of the Kelaniya Branch of CEAT Sri Lanka has made a financial donation of Rs. 1,148,000.00, a day’s salary of its members to the ‘Rebuilding Sri Lanka’ Fund established to support the restoration of livelihoods and the rebuilding of areas affected by cyclone Ditwah.
Secretary of the Inter-Company Employees’ Union of the CEAT Kelani Branch, D.G.S.D. Navaratne, handed over the donation to the Chief of Staff to the President, Prabhath Chandrakeerthi at the Presidential Secretariat this morning (18).
Treasurer of the Inter-Company Employees’ Union of the CEAT Kelani Branch, Y.P.I.C. Karunathilaka, together with members of the Executive Committee, were also present on the occasion.
(PMD)
Latest News
Prime Minister off to the United Kingdom to participate in the 22nd Annual Commonwealth Education Forum
Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya departed on an official visit to the United Kingdom to participate in the 22nd Annual Commonwealth Education Forum and the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) 2026 Board of Governors Meeting.
During the visit, the Prime Minister is scheduled to participate in several high-level academic and diplomatic engagements aimed at strengthening cooperation in the fields of education, development studies, research collaboration, and international partnerships.
As part of the visit, the Prime Minister will meet with Ms.Bridget Phillipson, Secretary of State for Education of the United Kingdom, at the UK Department for Education, to discuss areas of cooperation in education and related sectors. She is also expected to meet Ms.Yvette Cooper, Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, for discussions on matters of bilateral interest and cooperation between Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom.
In addition, the Prime Minister is expected to meet Ms.Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, on the sidelines of the 22nd Annual Commonwealth Education Forum and the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) 2026 Board of Governors Meeting.
During the visit, the Prime Minister will attend a public event at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex and she will also take part in the ceremony marking the 60th Anniversary of the Institute of Development Studies. The Prime Minister is also scheduled to address a session at the Oxford School of Global and Area Studies at the University of Oxford, followed by a question-and-answer session with scholars and students.
The visit is expected to strengthen Sri Lanka’s engagement with academic institutions, international development partners, and Commonwealth member states, particularly in the areas of education, research, policy dialogue, and capacity building.
[Prime Minister’s Media Division]
President meets senior officials of the Urban Development Authority
CEAT Kelani Branch Inter-Company Employees’ Union makes donation to the ‘Rebuilding Sri Lanka’ Fund
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Prime Minister off to the United Kingdom to participate in the 22nd Annual Commonwealth Education Forum
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