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About ECO MAXIMUS
Maximus (Pvt) Ltd was established
in 1997 by Managing Director Thusitha Ranasinghe. Thusitha
unsurprisingly comes from a printing background, the family trade
for three generations.
Originally Maximus (company name
was derived from the zoological name for the Sri Lankan Elephant –
Elephus Maximus Maximus) was set up to Recycle waste printing paper.
Soon after entering into this venture we realized that many more
waste products, that were often just thrown away, could also be used
and recycled. For example: - rice paddy straw, cinnamon and banana
bark are all used to add flavour and colour, thus enhancing the
products.
The original Maximus operation is located next to the “Millennium
Elephant Foundation” near Kegalle in Sri Lanka. We started with just
seven employees producing pap er
from a small factory on site. It did not take long however to
realize that the six resident elephants are a living, walking
natural material source. We soon established that elephant dung was
a perfect material to produce paper with. Hence the introduction of
our signature “Elephant Dung” paper range.
Operations soon started to
increase and the operating centre was moved to a new head office in
Dam Street Colombo. The existing factory at Kegalle has been
expanded to handle the increased production. We now employ over
thirty-five staff located between the two sites. At Maximus we use a
number of value adding sources but key competitive advantage comes
from our flexibility. We can vary colour, texture and thickness to
suit individual needs.
Despite being registered as a Limited Liability Company, our company
objectives and mission are very clear. At Maximus we strive to
enhance conservation and as a result make it profitable and
sustainable. The stakeholder theory is ad hered to and influences
business thinking, our key stakeholder is the Elephant. In other
words, the foundation on which Maximus rests is based Conservation,
primarily that of the Sri Lanka elephant.
Maximus aim to use the “Elephant
Dung” paper to create and then further raise awareness to the tragic
circumstances that surround the Sri Lankan Elephant. We are also
developing strategies aimed at improving the socio – economic
situation that currently restricts under privileged people living in
rural areas. Conflict between man and wild elephants over land are
severely detrimental to both. Our vision is to bring these two
together by implementing Project “Peace Paper”. In conflict areas we
hope to create autonomous and self-sustaining re-cycling plants that
make Elephant dung paper from wild elephant dung. This we hope will
create a mutual and beneficial relationship between man and beast
rather than the conflicts that currently exist.
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