The ozone layer acts as a shield for life on earth, absorbing most of the sun’s ultra violet radiation to protect the human beings from harmful rays. The ozone layer, being an essential aspect for human existence has been a much talked of topic during the recent past while many initiatives have been taken to protect it for future generations. The United Nations General Assembly in 1994 declared 16th September as the International Day for the preservation of ozone layer acceding to the Montreal protocol of 1987 and the Vienna convention for the protection of ozone layer.

Rifa Wadood, Director – Air Resource Management at National Ozone Unit, Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment said, ‘’Being an Article 5 country of the Montreal Protocol for substances that deplete the ozone layer, Sri Lanka has successfully phased out chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and is committed to phasing out hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and phasedown hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) as refrigerants. As a country, we are highly vulnerable to climate change, a global environmental externality. Considering the global warming impact of ozone layer depletion and the use of HFCs, I urge all the stakeholders including corporates to be responsible for their consumption and production, and choose appropriate alternatives that are less harmful to the environment.

The theme of World Ozone Day 2021 is ‘Montreal Protocol: Keeping Us, Our Food and Vaccines Cool’. On this day, let us celebrate our success of working together for humanity. Let us think globally and act locally!’’

SINGER, the country’s premier consumer durables retailer who is renowned for its eco-friendly product line up stepped forward to address this pressing issue with the launch of its trademark R600a refrigerant back in 2012. This innovation saw SINGER becoming the first company in Sri Lanka to adopt R600a technology in the refrigerant manufacturing process, in fact the first to do so in South Asia. Our efforts in early conversion of all our refrigerators to CFC free gases compelled the entire industry to follow-suit making total Sri Lankan Refrigerator Market almost zero ozone impact refrigerators. Since the introduction, SINGER’s R600a refrigerant has a success story of selling more than 1.25 million units, which accounts for a total energy saving of 1.3 Billion kWh. The introduction of R600a refrigerant goes down as one of the significant contributions to the ozone layer protection from a Sri Lankan company. Having identified the potential benefits of R600a gas over CFC gas, SINGER continued to expand its R600a refrigerant range.

SINGER owns a state-of-the-art refrigerator manufacturing facility, REGNIS (Lanka) PLC which utilizes cutting edge technology to manufacture high quality R600a refrigerants. SINGER’s R600a refrigerants are highly renowned for low energy consumption and save a considerable amount of money spent on electricity bill. Most importantly, R600a refrigerants are eco-friendly, making them the ideal solution for environment protection.

Sharing a timely message for the International Ozone Layer preservation Day, Shanil Perera, Director – Marketing, SINGER (Sri Lanka) PLC said, ‘’As we celebrate the World Ozone day, it is high time that we focus our attention to environment protection at all costs. We are witnessing an influx of natural disasters, environment pollution and threat to the ozone layer. It takes a collective effort from all of us to address these concerns. I take pride in saying that 100% of refrigerators marketed by SINGER are with eco-friendly Non-Ozone Impact gases. SINGER, being an environmentally conscious company is taking all possible measures to contribute to the overall environment preservation.”

SINGER in its continuous efforts towards green concepts, is trying to create awareness about the persistent threat of ozone layer depletion and encourage people to act responsibly and help save the planet. SINGER invites the public to think wisely and choose eco-friendly products, which are both beneficial for the environment as well as for the end consumer.