The Business World and Sustainable Development Association (SKD Turkey), which acts to increase the awareness and impact of the business world on sustainable development, and has broken new ground by putting sustainable development goals in its charter. EGİAD, after the cooperation protocol they signed recently, met with its members for good practice examples. Thus, within the framework of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, SKD Turkey, working with Turkey's leading companies in sustainability, promotes exemplary practices and good practice companies. EGİAD made available to its members.
The Aegean Young Businessmen Association (EGİADCircular economy, which is at the top of the agenda, draws attention as an economic system aiming at sustainability. In this system, production is not moving towards an end, but towards a repeatable cycle. According to the latest estimates made by the World Bank, the amount of solid waste is expected to reach 2025 million tons per day by 6.5, while the OECD also predicts that in 2030 there will be an extra 2 billion middle income. While the population is increasing rapidly in this way, the world's leading organizations need to increase their sustainability efforts at the same pace. EGİAD, aiming to increase the awareness and knowledge level of its members, especially on the circular economy, and to encourage their practices in the workplace, has accelerated its work on this subject. Signing a cooperation protocol with SKD Turkey in the past few days, EGİADheld its first meeting with the institution under the title of “Circular Economy, Opportunities and Best Practices”.
EGİAD The meeting hosted by the Chairman of the Board of Directors Alp Avni Yelkenbiçer, SKD Secretary General Konca Çalkıvik, SKD Turkey Consultant Ferda Ulutaş İşevi, SKD Turkey Senior Specialist Melis Cengizhan; principles, strategy and business models, benefits and gains in the circular economy; tools of the platform, activities carried out and sample applications; circularity measurement, circularity indicators and CTI measurement methodology for firms; value chain analysis and identification of circularity opportunities for firms; They took part in circular business design and CIRCO methodology with their evaluations.
Making the opening speech of the meeting EGİAD President Alp Avni Yelkenbiçer pointed out that significant efforts have been made for recycling, but emphasized that this situation is not enough for our future and against increased production, “Since the Industrial Revolution, we have been taking natural resources, producing and turning them into waste. In this process, we learned to use more resources more efficiently. Manufacturers should start making plans by putting resources ahead of customers, and in this way develop their business models. This poses two challenges: maximizing value throughout the cycle and being able to bring resources back to market. Limited resources are gradually decreasing, access to raw materials is getting harder, competition is increasing and the inevitable consequences of climate change are strikingly visible. Due to the increasing environmental pollution and climate crisis, countries started to look for various solutions. The circular economy, which is a sustainable production model in which every waste generated in the production system is re-evaluated, thus minimizing the raw material cost and keeping the resource efficiency at the highest level, is one of these solutions.
EGİAD Yelkenbiçer, who stated that they attach importance to the topics of Sustainability, Circular Economy and Climate Change, said, “Actually, these concepts, which are both the cause and the result of each other, have been drawing attention recently. The concept of the Green Swan, which we talked about in this direction last week, is also very important. The Green Swan is a concept that reminds us of the devastating truths about climate. The global scenario, which is expressed by the concept of the Green Swan, indicating low-probability but high-destructive risks related to the climate, is now on the agenda of all of us. Actions to be taken from a Circular Economy perspective are also very important to avoid the Green Swan scenario. Countries are developing policies related to circular economy. It is clear that we, as a country, need to work hard on this issue. The fact that we finally approved the Paris agreement in our parliament and subsequently declared the carbon neutral target for 26 at the COP 2053 summit in Glasgow is a good start in this sense. In terms of contributing to the circular economy, there are many activities to be done in the range from large industrial establishments to start-ups, even to personal precautions that we can take in our daily lives. “With potential measures and effective and sustainable policies to be implemented, our companies can converge to structures that carry out environmentally friendly activities.”
SKD Secretary General Konca Çalkıvik started her speech by stating that the climate crisis and social crises are getting deeper. He stated that companies that want to exist in the future should put sustainability and human focus in their decision mechanisms. Stating that if there is no transition to neutral carbon by 2053, the existence of the world will be in danger, Çalkıvik said, “We consume much more than the required resource in 1 year. The circular economy is the only starting point. The World Overdraft Day, which was in August, has regressed to 29 July. We've been doing this consistently for the last 50 years. The EU has developed a system on the Circular Economy. As a country that makes 42 percent of its exports to Europe in Turkey, it has to be included in this system.”
SKD Turkey Consultant Ferda Ulutaş İşevi stated that the total waste production in the world is expected to increase by 2050 percent until 70, and said, “In 2017, 9.1 percent of the material amount in the global economy was cyclical. In 2019, this rate was 8.6 percent. Only in the 20th century did humans produce more waste than they ever produced. Every year, 300 million tons of plastic, 50 million tons of e-waste, 1/3 of the food produced goes to waste. Resources are being depleted, and the availability of existing resources is gradually decreasing. Recycling rates and circularity are low. Inefficient use of resources increases greenhouse gas emissions. Input costs are constantly increasing. It is imperative to increase efficiency in the acquisition and use of resources. “The transition to a circular economy and circular business models is imperative.”
SKD Turkey Senior Specialist Melis Cengizhan also conveyed the processes of the Turkey Circular Economy Platform.
In the event, good practices were shared from ROTEKS, Bilecik Demir Çelik and Ergin Makine companies.
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