ENGLISH SUMMARY
Headlines from Zorlu Magazine
#69
ZORLU HOLDING
Intrapreneurship in Zorlu Holding
The second cycle of “Parlak Bi'Fikir”, the intrapreneurship project initiated by Zorlu Holding to create a business environment that promotes innovative ideas and solutions within the framework of the Akıllı Hayat 2030 sustainability vision, kicked off with an online launch on the 10th of June. The program, which offers a new generation of career opportunities to Zorlu Group employees who wish to turn their ideas into an initiative, will continue with the formation of teams around the selected ideas. After eight months of intensive courses, mentoring, and a selection process, the teams entitled to receive investments will establish their own companies in partnership with Zorlu Holding.
In the first cycle of "Parlak Bi'Fikir", more than 300 venture ideas were collected and after 8 months of intensive work, mentoring, and training, "ConectoHub" and "AbilityPool” teams were entitled to receive investments. Both initiatives established their companies in partnership with Zorlu Holding last February. In the second cycle of the program, more and more ideas are expected to be gathered with the increasing demand for new business areas, products, and services after the pandemic.
ZORLU CENTER
Zorlu Center invests in UVC technology
While Zorlu Center is delighted to meet its guests after the pandemic, special measures were implemented to maximize their health. Zorlu Center, maximizes its hygiene standards and has equipped all 151 air handling units that provide 100 percent fresh air to indoor spaces with UVC (ultraviolet) technology that destroys microorganisms. With this investment exceeding 2 million TL, bacteria and viruses that may come from outside with fresh air are destroyed instantly and the air quality in the closed areas is maximized.
Zorlu Real Estate General Manager Didem Aydın said that Zorlu Center provides clean air in a wide area with its 10 thousand square meter open space and 12 thousand square meter park area, and with UVC investment in closed areas it also offers a safe space where guests can act more confidently and peacefully..
ZORLU HOLDING
Interview with Zorlu Holding Human Resources Director Zülal Öztürk Kaya
Zorlu Holding Human Resources Director Zülal Öztürk Kaya stated that going through the coronavirus period which nobody has ever experienced before is fraught with difficulties for everyone. On the other hand, she thinks that this period also offers an opportunity for all individuals to look at life from a different perspective. Kaya expressed that the most valuable gain from this process, in which we have been forced to change not only in terms of our daily life, but also with the basic issues of the world, is that it is once again understood that the dream of a better future can only be achieved through the culture of human labour and collective action.
Stating that the pandemic has increased the burden on working women, especially with working from home, Zülal Öztürk Kaya said that as the Human Resources Group Presidency, they have focused on solutions that will ensure the sustainability of life in this period and implemented a comprehensive corporate welfare program for employees called “Birlikte İyiyiz”. This program includes guidance and support in many areas such as endurance, anxiety management, child psychology, and personal development as well as psychological counselling and nutrition.
Zülal Öztürk Kaya, said that their top priority in this period as the Human Resources Group Presidency is to ensure the health of the employees and a safe working environment for them. She also noted that they are managing the pandemic process in a holistic manner with a 360-degree understanding at home, at the office, in facilities, or outside. Kaya believes that by always thinking positively Zorlu Holding will come out of this difficult period better and stronger, in a way that creates value for both our business and social life.
VESTEL
Vestel CEO Turan Erdoğan: “It is our responsibility to leave a better world for future generations!”
The increasing awareness on issues such as climate change, natural disasters, and epidemics, which have become more and more impactful in recent years, leads the consumer orientation towards environmentally friendly products. Individuals are now looking out for products which not only save money, but are also produced with an environmentalist approach and sustainable methods.
On World Environment Day on the 5th of June, Vestel CEO Turan Erdoğan pointed out that it is a must to act responsibly towards the world and expressed that Vestel acts responsibly on both product development and production processes to leave a better world for future generations. Erdoğan said that 1600 engineers in 8 R&D centers of Vestel across the world focus on the goal of developing products that are friendly to global resources. Stating that the white goods they produce that provide record-breaking electricity and water-saving, detergent-free washing and prolong shelf life with vacuum apparatus have seen great interest from consumers, Erdoğan said that they attached great importance to energy and water savings during production. Erdoğan also mentioned that Vestel has increased its production in white goods by 55 percent in the last 5 years but has managed to reduce its water consumption per unit product by 36 percent.
ZORLU HOLDING
imece dialogues
The global epidemic, which has forced the masses to stay at home, has brought in many uncertainties that have profoundly affected the economy, society, finance, relationships, and physical and mental health. Our social innovation platform imece, co-founded by Zorlu Holding, has launched a webinar series called imece dialogues to comprehensively address these uncertainties and the environment of change brought by the coronavirus crisis.
During May, experts from different fields who came together on three different webinars organized with the titles “Değişimde Toplum” (Society in Change), “Değişimde İşin Geleceği” (The Future of Business in Change), and ”Değişimde Öğrenmenin Geleceği” (The Future of Learning in Change), shared their analysis, insights, and predictions on these topics via Zoom and a simultaneous live YouTube broadcast.
ZORLU TEXTILES
“Zero Brine” project
Zorluteks, which has put many innovative technologies into use to reduce environmental impacts from production, is preparing to implement a pioneering project in its sector. With TÜBİTAK Marmara Research Center Environment and Cleaner Production Institute’s project “Zero Brine” , the company will reduce the use of water resources by providing recycling of 80 percent of wastewater.
The Zero Brine project, supported within the scope of the EU Horizon 2020, aims to recycle pure water, salt, and valuable materials from waste/ wastewater from industrial establishments to production processes with a circular economy approach. With Zero Brine project, Zorluteks will be able to reuse the discharge water from the biological treatment plant for further use. In this way it is planned for the pure water to be utilized in the process and concentrated brine to be used in the dyeing processes. Zorluteks General Manager Cemil Çiçek, believes that Zorluteks has become a company preferred by world giants with the sensibility it shows to reduce its environmental impact and its innovative investments. Çiçek stated that this project will be an important milestone in the company's process management.
ZORLU TEXTILES
"Clean Production Software" from Zorluteks
Aiming to use the natural resources in the most efficient way while designing the future of home textiles with a sustainable environmental understanding, Zorluteks has developed the "Temiz Üretim Yazılımı” (Clean Production Software), where the machines used in the production facility can monitor electricity, water, natural gas, and steam consumption instantly. With newly developed software, maximum efficiency will be achieved by monitoring the resources used in production instantly.
Zorluteks General Manager Cemil Çiçek: “We have carried out our production with more than 65 years of experience and great responsibility in the sector. We prove our environmentalist stance with GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standards) and OEKO TEX certificates. We support ecological production by designing certified organic products. Thanks to our digital printing machines, we have established a technological infrastructure and we conduct most of our production on these machines. Now, with this software, we will be able to monitor the amount of electricity, water, natural gas, and steam we use to produce 1 kg of fabric. While an average of 120 liters of water is used for the production of 1 kg of fabric in the world, we have reduced it to 80 liters. We aim to reduce this usage to 70 liters with our instant follow-ups and applications.”
ZORLU ENERGY
Sustainable sukuk issuance from Zorlu Energy
Turkey's local and renewable energy pioneer Zorlu Energy continues to implement economic, social, environmental and corporate management practices in line with its sustainability vision. Turkey's first sustainable sukuk issuance was carried out on behalf of Zorlu Energy by the Industrial Development Bank of Turkey (TSKB). The first 50 million TL issuance of the Sukuk Issuance Program, which has a theme of sustainability to the amount of 450 million TL, has been completed.
There are very few issues in the world labeled as “Sustainable Sukuk”. The issuance process carried out on behalf of Zorlu Energy stands out by distinguishing itself from others in terms of including sustainable infrastructure and clean transportation. Sinan Ak, CEO of Zorlu Energy, stated that they have integrated sustainability into all of their business processes and that sustainable sukuk issuance is a very valuable step that shows their determination in this regard. Ak further wished that this issue would be an example to many companies in Turkey and around the world.
ZORLU HOLDING
“Bizden Hikâyeler”
In line with our sustainability vision Akıllı Hayat 2030, “Bizden Hikayeler”, are stories to inspire the implementation of the sustainability in real life. These stories consist of successful projects at group companies and innovative solutions developed for the construction of a better future.
In this context, the Korteks Su Verimliliği Projesi (Korteks Water Efficiency Project), which is one of the shared examples, aims to use second-quality purified water from the treatment plant of the industrial zone instead of high-quality first-class dam water. With the water treatment plant established in this direction, the project paid itself back in 9 months according to the investment cost as a result of 50% savings in soft water production costs and 70% savings in demineralized water production costs being achieved. In addition, water consumption corresponding to the annual use of approximately 4,500 households was prevented, making an important contribution to the environment. Considerable savings were also achieved in the use of inputs such as salt, acid and caustic, reducing costs and increasing the competitiveness of the company.
Zorlu Enerji İkizdere Hidroelektrik Santrali Rehabilitasyon Projesi (Zorlu Energy İkizdere Hydroelectric Power Plant Rehabilitation Project) is a first in Turkey in terms of the path followed in the capacity increase of the İkizdere Hydroelectric Power Plant, whose operating license was taken over by Zorlu Energy in 2008. As a result of the research conducted after the plant was taken over, it was determined that the plant with an installed capacity of 18.6 MW could be increased to 78 MW. However, before this plan was put into practice, a social dialogue process was initiated with local people and local administrations. As a result of this process, it was determined that local people are opposed to a capacity increase of the power plant in terms of it using additional water resources, but they did not object to a capacity increase with the related technological update. Based on this, it was decided to desist from the 78 MW capacity increase, instead the installed power was increased to 24.94 MW, and the power plant was renewed in 2018.