Maximus creates value through elephant dung paper

by Anjana Samarasinghe

Thusitha Ranasinghe comes from a printing background, the family trade for three generations. He however wanted to recycle waste printing paper. Soon he came to know elephant dung would be the ideal raw material for his new venture.

Managing Director of Maximus (Private) Limited Thusitha Ranasinghe said the elephant is just like a walking paper mill, which provides the raw material for paper manufacturing through its dung.

In 1997, Thusitha established Maximus (Private) Limited with seven employees. At the beginning he faced difficulties due to lack of funds but the company grew gradually. Today Maximus owns two plants in Pinnawala and Kandalama and provides nearly 150 youth with employment in these areas. Their new plant will be located in Dambulla, which will provide more job opportunities for youth.

Normal pulp used for paper is made out of trees that are felled. An elephant eats 200kg of leaves per day and it has a bad digesting system, which will make it is dung more like pulp. This precious waste collected from the Pinnawala elephant orphanage is processed at the plant in Kegalle and turned into an eco-friendly handmade paper.

This handmade paper is not an utility product and it has a niche market. The market of this product is expanding and also it is more expensive than imported paper. In a situation like this, Maximus has been able to attract both the international and local market.

The reason that it has grabbed the attention of the local market is for the varieties that they offer and the personalised service.

'Even from 10kg of this pulp we can produce different types of paper.

In the global market, the eco-friendly concept, has become a latest trend in the world which has enabled us to reach the international market,' Thusitha said.

Today 95% of their production is for the international market and the company exports their products to countries such as Japan, USA, UK and Canada.

At the beginning the company was targeting at the local market especially for the wedding cards. Today their product range has spread to bags, boxes, brochures, calendars, corporate stationery, greeting cards, notebooks and visiting cards.

According to Thusitha it is not all about making papers from elephant dung but developing the product in an artistic way.

Their biggest challenge is to cater to the instant demand with their slow production due to the handmade process that takes some time. The company is in the process of increasing production volumes within a short period of time. Lacking in intellectual capital is another challenge for them.

Thusitha believes that seeking grants for business is not practical but he says the Government should provide tax concessions for local entrepreneurs to boost their businesses.

According to Thusitha any entrepreneur who wishes to kick-start a new venture should look at it as an opportunity and go for the challenge.

The future of the Maximus campany will focus on providing more job opportunities for rural youth and develop the business to mitigate the human elephant conflict.