Sri Lanka’s leading manufacturer of corrugated cartons, Ex-Pack Corrugated Cartons Limited, is also an industry leader in the sphere of corporate social responsibility. Looking to learn more, as the company prepares to go public, through an IPO and listing on the Colombo Stock Exchange, we spoke to Azhar Sheriff, Head of Sustainability at Ex-Pack, as he discussed the company’s values and the importance of CSR.

What does CSR Mean for Ex-Pack?

At Ex-Pack, CSR is part of our core ethos as it is interwoven into our values, which are; to conduct ethical business while caring about all stakeholders, to provide equal opportunities to all employees, to exercise due diligence and care for the environment and to exercise social responsibility across our manufacturing activities. Therefore, CSR is something that comes naturally to us. Many of our efforts are very much employee centric, but we do also engage in social projects. Some of our initiatives are one-offs with recurring benefits and others are ongoing efforts. An excellent example is our thrice weekly free medical clinic for residents of Pattiwila, where our manufacturing plant is located, which is presently ongoing since 2011. To express it in a single phrase, I would say, for Ex-Pack, CSR means, “Thinking beyond profits”.

Do you have a defined strategy for CSR? If so, could you tell us about it?

We do have a well-defined strategy for CSR that seeks to create long-term shared value for the community and our business, strengthening our relationship with the community, environment and stakeholders. Our CSR strategy is a threefold strategy that that seeks to preserve the environment, uplift communities and empower our employees.

These three focus areas help us to ensure that we always implement and maintain good, ethical and safe manufacturing practices that have minimal negative impacts on the environment. We conduct awareness programmes, such as our recent Earth Day Awareness Programme, and are constantly refining our processes to minimize waste. In fact, in terms of sustainability and reducing waste, we are leading the charge in the industry and on a national scale as our wholly-owned subsidiary, Neptune Papers (Private) Limited, is a pioneer and leader in Sri Lanka’s recycling industry for recycling paper and paper products. All our waste is channelled to Neptune Papers for recycling, and we use recycled materials wherever possible in our corrugated carton products.

We are very cognizant of the fact that we don’t exist in a vacuum and that we too are member of the local community. Thus, we take every effort to maintain excellent relations with the communities we work with at our manufacturing plant, taking the trouble to understand their problems and solve them. Excellent examples of such initiatives include the building of bus stand shelters and the construction of a 1km long storm drain in Pattiwala, which have transformed the lives of the local people. Prior to the completion of the storm drain project, which was done entirely at Ex-Pack’s expense, the area used to frequently flood during heavy rain, inundating homes and causing severe disruptions to everyday life. However, this is now a thing of the past.

Furthermore, we understand that, as a company, we’re only as good as our people. Thus, this is the area we focus most of our resources on, as it is the way through which we can directly benefit our people and help them help us achieve our objectives, as a business. In addition to extensive training and skills development programmes, we are also an equal opportunity employer. Hence, many of our people are differently abled. We do not discriminate against anyone, and try to find suitable roles for people of all abilities.

In addition to this, we provide many support programmes for our staff, such as the provision of free school books and other items to their children, on a yearly basis. This usually includes writing books, stationery, schoolbags, lunch boxes, water bottles and vouchers for shoes. As it is an annual event, we’ve come to see many of the kids eagerly await it and the initiative is clearly much appreciated. We also encourage and insist that our people look after their health and maintain a work-life balance. To this end, we conduct a yearly medical cap for all, free of charge, while supporting sporting and other social activities amongst and for our people.

I believe that our employee-centric attitude and the excellent relationship we share with our community is well attested to by the fact that we have been recognized by Best Workplaces, both nationally and regionally. For four consecutive years, we have been tipped as one of the best places to work in Sri Lanka and for three consecutive years as one of the best places to work in the Asia Pacific region as a whole.

Looking to the future, up until the global pandemic hit, we worked together with the Kelaniya Zonal Education Office to facilitate industrial visits to our plant by O-Level and A-Level students. The intention was to give them an insight into the packaging industry and show them the possibilities available. While providing a fun and educational day out, these activities also help to inspire young people to take up a career in this industry. While these activities are presently suspended due to the pandemic, we look forward to resuming them when conditions are conducive.

What Has Ex-Pack done for its people during the COVID crisis?

Our covid response has been extensive and focused on our employees. At this time of need, we wanted to stand together with them in solidarity. Thus, in addition to taking all health and safety precautions, in line with the Ministry of Health’s COVID Guidelines, we also pivoted to a work from home model for all staff who could adapt as such. These individuals were provided with laptops and internet facilities by the Company.

For our people who simply could not work remotely, we provided secure, sanitized and socially distanced transport arrangements through a specially arranged fleet of buses. We have also installed automated steaming points at four locations within our manufacturing facility, where employees can inhale steam as measure to prevent COVID, or at least minimize suffering in the unfortunate event that one of our people does contract the virus. Employees are encouraged to use these steam points, which are automated and require no physical contact, at least 3 times a day. Contactless handwashing stations have also been installed in our cafeteria.

As a concrete measure to combat the pandemic, Ex-Pack, in consultation with the local area PHI, successfully provided vaccines to all our staff. In addition to this, we are providing each and every employee who contracts COVID with immediate financial assistance in the form of 15,000 rupees in cash to support their families during the quarantine period. Those employees who may need to be quarantined at a centre are provided with an essentials pack that includes essential medicine, herbal drinks, dry foods, sanitizers, toiletries, surgical masks, and snacks. Additionally, each employee and their first contacts who are directed to quarantine receive their full pay, along with any quarantine centre related expenses being covered.

What is the future of CSR at Ex-Pack?

We are planning a major expansion with the commissioning of a new manufacturing facility, which will be partly funded by our IPO. As we continue to grow and reach new heights, it will become possible for us to engage in much wider reaching and even more impactful CSR endeavours, guided by our threefold strategy. At Ex-Pack, we are thinking beyond profits and intend to grow as a responsible corporate citizen and an employer focused on improving our communities and protecting our environment.