Ülker Publishes 2020 Sustainability Report

Ülker published its 6th Sustainability Report covering its 2020 economic, social and environmental activities. Ülker CEO Mete Buyurgan stated that the company continues to work on advancing Ülker's sustainability performance, and said they will accelerate the steps taken on this journey by setting new targets. Noting that they continued uninterrupted production and met demand during the pandemic period, Buyurgan said: "This period, in which our resilience was tested, also highlighted the measures that need to be taken against foreseeable major risks such as climate change and environmental problems. In our company, we developed projects covering many areas from water and energy savings to human resources, from waste management and food preservation to production quality. Through operational excellence practices implemented in 2020 and approximately 2,000 technical improvements, we achieved TRY 21.5 million in savings, and by implementing 69 R&D and innovation projects, we achieved TRY 26.6 million in savings. Our investments and expenditures in the environmental field increased by approximately 30 percent compared to the previous year, reaching TRY 3.4 million," he said. Mentioning that they prioritize domestic producers in Sustainability projects, Buyurgan also reported that the first harvest of high-quality, productive, domestic and national Aliağa Biscuit Wheat, which is resistant to climate change, disease and drought, was carried out.

Target: 100% Recycling by 2025

Buyurgan stated that within the scope of 10-year sustainability targets set in 2014, Ülker succeeded in increasing its waste recycling rate to 91 percent. "Within the scope of our zero-waste efforts, to reduce the environmental impact of the packaging and materials we use, we are focusing on using less and recyclable materials. Last year, we used 660 tons less paper and 536 tons less plastic. We continue our efforts without slowing down in line with our target that by 2025, 100 percent of our product packaging will be recyclable, reusable or compostable," he said. Reminding that they have continued to grow since 2014 without an increase in carbon emissions, Buyurgan also noted that through energy efficiency projects they implemented, they achieved 7,967 MWh total energy savings in 2020 and thereby realized TRY 3.2 million in savings. Ülker CEO Mete Buyurgan noted that they support the "10x20x30" initiative launched by the World Resources Institute (WRI) aimed at reducing global food loss and waste by 50 percent by 2030, and said they continue to advance their performance in sustainability with each passing year, continuing as follows: "The recognition of our sustainability efforts on both national and international platforms is the strongest indicator that we are on the right path. We have been included in the Borsa Istanbul Sustainability Index since 2015. In the 2020 Good Life/İyi Yaşam Brands Research conducted jointly by Nielsen and Sustainable Brands Istanbul, we were selected as a "Good Life Brand" for the third consecutive time. With our high performance in environmental, social and governance areas, as a result of the S&P Corporate Sustainability Assessment, we became the first and only Turkish company in the food sector to make it into The Sustainability Yearbook 2021 list. Through the behavior-based safety culture projects we launched, we brought our Occupational Health and Safety performance to global benchmark levels. With our Occupational Health and Safety projects, we were among the companies receiving awards at the International Safety Awards 2020 organized annually by the British Safety Council."

Ülker's 2020 Sustainability Data

• Ülker's water reduction rate reached 35.4 percent.
• Through rainwater recovery systems at Topkapı and Gebze plants, 9.8 million liters of water were recovered.
• By transporting products in larger vehicles and with less fuel, logistics-related carbon emissions were reduced by 15 percent over the past 5 years.
• Through zero-waste efforts at Silivri plant, the amount of waste sent for incineration and energy recovery exceeded 320 tons over the past 2 years. This figure is equivalent to the daily domestic waste of a city of approximately 210,000 people.
• All activities in R&D centers and plants were made possible to be conducted on a digital platform. Through this, experience and technical knowledge are preserved in the digital environment, and work is managed in a faster, more efficient and sustainable manner.
• A video series titled "Ülker Beautiful Country Nature Entrusted to Us" was released covering natural resource protection, water savings, energy efficiency, waste management, carbon footprint reduction and food waste prevention. The viewing rate of 5 episodes so far has reached 55 million on Ülker's Facebook and Instagram accounts and 12 million on Youtube.
• Within the scope of Ülker Beautiful Country Forest, we united 31,000 seedlings with soil.
• By providing an average of 25 hours of training per employee, training hours increased by approximately 20 percent over the past 2 years.