Business Transformation for Sustainability Award

At the 5th Environmental Sustainability Awards of La Verdad (one of the most important media in Murcia), the jury has honored LAKEN with the Business Transformation for Sustainability Award, in recognition of its extensive journey driven by the pursuit of increasingly eco-friendly production.

We must begin by expressing our gratitude for the consideration of the jury members. To al lof them, infinite thanks.

Regarding the award, we have said it many times: we manufacture a reusable product that is also recyclable.

Without fear of error, we can say that sustainability is in our DNA.

However, we can also assert with conviction and pride that our commitment to sustainability doesn't end there. We want to offer the best product and do it by improving each and every one of our processes, so that not only our bottles and canteens are sustainable, but also the way we manufacture them.

This is precisely what this award acknowledges: the constant work, transformation, and the concern to produce with the least possible impact on the planet.

And it's not easy. 111 years ago, when the company was founded under a different name and a different product catalog, environmental pollution, transportation emissions, the importance of supplier origins, and raw materials were not measured as they are today.

Even so, we began considering and transforming all these issues decades ago, and today, to the great delight of our entire team, they have allowed us to win this award.

We work on several fronts in parallel, for a greater impact. Or better said, for an increasingly smaller impact.

Humberto Serrán Moya, our Quality and Environment Director, summed it up very well at the gala in his thank-you speech, highlighting the three major areas of action on which we've worked in the past two years:

• Substituting primary aluminium with 100% PCR (post-consumer recycled) aluminium as the raw material for manufacturing all our aluminium bottles, which has significant benefits for the environment.
• Installing an extensive photovoltaic park on the roof of our main building with the goal of achieving energy self-sufficiency in the medium term.
• Recovering wastewater from the osmosis system in the company for the care and maximum utilization of the precious resource that is water, especially in areas sensitive to water stress, such as the Region of Murcia.

 

The pride of knowing that we are all rowing in the same direction.

These Environmental Sustainability Awards, whose first edition was held in 2019, aim to recognize the work and initiatives of associations, groups, and companies that excel in their commitment to a more responsible development, compatible with the preservation of the natural environment and biodiversity.

Therefore, these awards also highlight the efforts of various entities in six other categories:

• Biodiversity Conservation, Natural Environment, and Rural Landscape Award: Atalaya Bio, for aloe vera production on the Chuecos, in Águilas, one of the spaces with the highest faunal and botanical biodiversity in our country.
• Environmental Education Award: Hidrogea, educating the youngest for 15 years with the Aqualogia program, a national example of outreach.
• Business Initiative for Sustainability Award: Cobet Water Treatments, the creator of the Evacold water recovery system, which represents a paradigm shift by rescuing hidden value in waste and preventing discharges.
• Sustainable Production Processes and Products Award: Ovifoodtech Association, for the utilization and valorization of adult Segureña sheep meat.
• Best Youth Initiative for Nature Conservation Award: Francisco Salzillo High School (Alcantarilla), for their participation in the European project "Green Route to the Future."
• Special "La Verdad Newspaper Scholarship" Award: #LookingAtTheWires, against bird electrocution from high-voltage lines.

Our sincerest congratulations to all of them, as well as to all the companies and associations that haven't received awards this year, for the work they do.

Ultimately, what matters most is that we are all on the same path, the only possible path.

Thank you.