NEWS

Ülker, Türkiye's leading food company, which continues its sustainability efforts with the 'Wasteless Company' model, has published its Sustainability Report for the 7th time, in which it shares its economic, social and environmental activities with the public every year.

Emphasizing that they left behind a successful year in Ülker's sustainability journey, Ülker CEO Mete Buyurgan continued his words as follows: “In our company, we produce projects on many subjects from water and energy saving to sustainable raw material supply, from human resources to production quality. We base our efforts on the 2030 Sustainable Development Aims of the United Nations to make these efforts traceable and auditable around a clear strategy. As is known, in line with our sustainability strategy, we set 10-year targets for 2024, the 80th anniversary of Ülker, under the headings of environment, value chain, innovation, social responsibility, employees and leadership. We share our progress with the public in our annual sustainability reports. Since 2014, we have been growing without an increase in carbon emissions. We purchase raw materials, materials and services from local suppliers at the maximum level. Thus, we both support local development and reduce logistics-related carbon emissions. While determining our sustainability projects, water efficiency, prevention of food waste and sustainable raw material supply are among our main priorities.”

Stating that they continue to work with the aim of gradually reducing water and energy consumption per unit of production each year, Buyurgan said that they aim to make all plastic materials to be used at Ülker recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.

Buyurgan continued his words as follows: “In 2018, we achieved our target of 30 percent water reduction per unit production, which we set for 2024. In 2021, our water reduction rate per unit of production exceeded our target and reached 38.4 percent. By using approximately 400 thousand cubic meters less water in the last 5 years, we have achieved savings equivalent to the daily water needs of a city with a population of 1.8 million. In 2021, we made an energy efficiency investment of approximately 2.6 million TL. We procured approximately 37.5 percent of our electrical energy consumption from renewable sources. We managed to recycle 93.5% of our waste. We have reached the rate of converting 99 percent of raw materials into finished products. We saved 35.8 million TL with R&D projects. In line with our targets, we reduced the use of plastic in packaging by 268 tons and the use of paper by 1,194 tons in 2021.”

With the supply of renewable energy, 26 thousand tons of carbon emissions were prevented

Stating that they are working to reduce carbon emissions at Ülker, Buyurgan said, “With the I-REC renewable energy certificate we received from the I-REC certified wind power plant, we prevented 26,321 tons of carbon emissions. This reduction corresponds to approximately 18 percent of our carbon emissions in 2021. At the same time, we have achieved 11,921 MWh energy savings and 7.5 million TL financial savings within the scope of the energy efficiency projects we have realized."  

Buyurgan also stated that the seed dissemination efforts are continuing in the Aliağa Biscuit Wheat Project, which is domestic and national wheat developed in cooperation with Bahri Dağdaş International Agricultural Research Institute, “We have successfully completed the harvest of the seeds we planted in 10 provinces in 2021. In order to obtain new biscuit wheat types, studies are also continuing in the Biscuit Wheat Development Program together with the Bahri Dağdaş International Agricultural Research Institute.”

National and international awards strengthen Ülker

Reminding that Ülker's sustainability efforts continue to be appreciated in national and international platforms, Buyurgan conveyed the following information: "We have been included in the Borsa Istanbul Sustainability Index since 2015. Ülker was included in the “Corporate Sustainability Assessment-The Sustainability Yearbook” list prepared by the international rating agency S&P Global, which measures the sustainability performance of global companies for the second time in a row. In the list where the sustainability performances of 7 thousand 554 companies from 61 sectors were examined, we were the only Turkish company in the "food products" category in 2022, as in 2021. We were also the only Turkish food company to be included in the S&P Global ESG 2021 Index, where the sustainability performances of companies from all over the world are evaluated. We managed to rank in the top three among 37 companies from Türkiye and different sectors included in the index. As the only Turkish company that managed to make it to the finals of the 2022 edie Sustainability Leaders Awards, one of the most prestigious platforms in its field worldwide, we represented Türkiye in all 5 categories. Finally, we were awarded with our water management model in the Water Management category at the Sustainable Business Awards. “

BOX

Ülker's Sustainability Researches in Numbers for 2021

• Ülker has been growing without an increase in carbon emissions since 2014.
• 268 tons of plastic and 1194 tons of paper were saved.
• 466 of 1,511 projects were implemented with an R&D budget of 36.2 million TL. With the improvements made, 35.8 million TL was saved.

• Within the scope of energy efficiency projects, 11,921 MWh of energy and 7.5 million TL of financial savings were achieved.
• The rate of water reduction per unit of production was 38.4 percent.
• By using 398,715 cubic meters less water in the last 5 years, savings equivalent to the daily water needs of a city with a population of 1.8 million were achieved.
• The number of saplings in the Güzel Ülker Forest reached 90,500. The 50 thousand saplings donated due to the fires last year will meet the soil by the end of this year.
• With the video content titled "Ülker Beautiful Country - Nature is Entrusted to Us" in order to raise social awareness on sustainability, Ülker's Facebook and Instagram accounts reached 59.6 million views and 14.5 million views on Youtube.