NEWSROOM

Eczacıbaşı Yapı Gereçleri, which operates under the VitrA, Artema, Intema and burgbad brands, announced that 93.4% of the electricity it used in 2022 came from renewable sources. The organization reduced its total carbon emissions by 38.5% compared to 2021.

TURKEY - Eczacıbaşı Building Materials, which has 12 production facilities in 4 countries and operations in 105 international markets, published its sustainability report for 2022 with the motto "We are building a healthy future together”.

This year, the organization prepared two comprehensive reports that transparently convey Eczacıbaşı Yapı Gereçleri's sustainability strategy, performance, goals and progress towards achieving them. The report titled “Story of our Ambition” includes sustainability initiatives, good practice examples and goals, and the organization's sustainability strategy. The second report, titled “Facts about our Actions”, provides detailed insights into sustainability practices by presenting a data-driven approach to analyze the sustainability performance of Eczacıbaşı Yapı Gereçleri.

“Electricity supply from renewable sources has exceeded 93%”

Eczacıbaşı Yapı Gereçleri CEO Özgen Özkan stated that they had reduced their total carbon emissions by 38.5% and carbon emissions per ton of product by 36% in line with Scope 1 and 2 compared to the base year 2021, and in his message in the report, “We operate in the energy-intensive building products sector. As international players, we are aware of our responsibility to respect planetary boundaries and reduce our environmental footprint. Accordingly, we are accelerating our renewable energy investments and evaluating all possibilities to support our low-carbon transition roadmap.

In 2022, we successfully installed our first 4 MW solar power plant on the roof of our Bozüyük facility. We have zeroed our electricity-related carbon emissions in our operations in Turkey by providing green electricity. Going forward, we plan to increase our solar installed capacity to 18 MW by 2025. This will enable us to meet 30% of our annual electricity needs from the renewable energy plants we will establish. In parallel with this, we aim to reach 50% renewable energy production in our electricity consumption by accelerating our investments in off-site renewable energy projects. We will continue to provide green electricity certificates for our remaining electricity use. By the end of 2030, we aim to meet all of our electricity consumption in Turkey from renewable energy that we produce.”

It will reduce the water and energy consumed in bathrooms

Özgen Özkan stated that users are aware of the environmental effects of products and that they care more and more about the actions taken by companies in this regard, which has now become a competitive advantage.

“We have a product range that works predominantly with water. We focus on designing and developing products with the lowest environmental impact by using resources efficiently, extending the life of our products and increasing the share of environmentally friendly materials. We offer smart and innovative products designed to reduce the amount of water and energy consumed in households, especially in common areas. We will continue to leverage our expertise in innovation and digitalization to develop products that meet the hygiene and well-being needs of all people without ever dropping sustainability off our agenda."

87% of waste is recycled

Eczacıbaşı Yapı Gereçleri CEO Özgen Özkan, stating that they have achieved a recycling rate of approximately 87% in the wastes arising from production, said that with nearly 80 energy efficiency projects, 2% of the annual energy use is equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of approximately 2,290 households in exchange for 8,700 MWh. highlighted the savings. Saying, “We have reduced the energy consumption per ton of product by 4% compared to 2020; we aim to increase this rate to 14% by 2025”, the CEO added, "Women's share in Turkey has increased to 50% in new hires, 38% in employees, and management." He stated that they are proud to raise it to 40%.

“We recognize the importance of maintaining the delicate balance of sustainable resources, society and business. In 2022, together with the Eczacıbaşı Group, we embarked on a journey of transformation in the field of environmental, social and corporate governance and strengthened a corporate culture that fully embraces sustainability by forming working groups in all departments to develop sustainability-oriented initiatives," said Özgen Özkan. He also stated that they reviewed and updated their targets in three main categories: human, product and production.

About the Report

The sustainability report of Eczacıbaşı Yapı Gereçleri has been prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standard. The report also took into account the principles of the World Economic Forum (WEF) “Stakeholder Capitalism Indicators” and the International Integrated Reporting Framework (IIRC).

The sustainability report, which includes Eczacıbaşı Yapı Gereçleri's production facilities in Bozüyük and Tuzla in Turkey, and Santekhnika in Russia, in addition to its headquarters in Istanbul, covers the period from January 1 to December 31, 2022. While the activities carried out in France and Germany together with burgbad are reported under the title of burgbad, reference is also made to the wholesale channel Intema. Employees' demographic data presented in the report are specific to operations conducted in Turkey unless otherwise stated.