One of the most basic building blocks of ancient cultures living intertwined with nature is, in modern parlance, circularity. The fertility of the fertile lands comes from not wasting and being transformed into and transforming, just like in natural life. In the last two centuries or so, the world and our communication methods with it have changed a lot, and so have we. Societies, just like people, as their habits change over time, sometimes cannot even recognise themselves when they look in the mirror.
Pet bottles like plastic fishes swimming in the seas and streams; half-living vegetables and fruits spilling out of the mouths of rubbish bins like a curse… Pieces of bread flowing from the corners of their mouths.
People on the street; they have no clothes on. Clothes on the pavements, in the wastelands; no people in them. People hugging machines and bags; clothes hugging stones and soil. So tightly hugged that the soil cannot breathe. However, the world is restoring its ‘factory settings’; don’t worry, your installed applications will not be deleted!
Since the industrialisation that began in the 19th century, the world has gained great technological momentum and this acceleration continues to increase exponentially. Along with this, there has been a great increase in the average life expectancy and welfare level of people who are able to access the means. As the tools we use and the way we communicate with the world have changed, we have changed and keep changing.
In the once-prevailed culture, leftover food was not thrown away, but kept in a non-perishable condition, given to friends and neighbours or fed to animals. Our clothes would last for years – those who still wear the clothes of their grandparents know this – and the old ones would be patched, or if not, they would be transformed for another use with the method called ‘upcycling’ today; flour sacks would become chintz and clothes, empty oil cans would become pots for flowers. The architectural pieces of the civilisations that lived in these lands would continue to live in our own social areas, houses and social structures. We would not go to bed full while our neighbour was hungry; the one’s surplus would make up for the other’s deficiency. So there was always a cycle.
However, for some time now we have been living in a world dominated by a different culture. They call it consumer culture. Today, anyone who goes to the buffets of hotels will see the waste of food lying naked on the tables. On the other hand, isn’t it hard to believe that there are still people dying from hunger in the world, even illogical? But we know there are. What about the piles of clothes rising like a mountain in landfills? So, what are we going to do? Of course, we will save the world! It is quite possible to re-establish circularity and today we will talk about one of the most successful examples in Türkiye, Fazla.
“We demand all things surplus”
Fazla is a social enterprise that transforms surplus into benefit, demands surplus of everything and set out eight years ago with the motto ‘We will save the world’. At the same time, it is the first organisation in Türkiye to receive the B Corp certification, which measures the social and environmental impact of companies, with a total score of 94.4 points as a result of evaluations lasting more than a year in the field of waste management. Starting with the aim of utilising surplus in food, it continues to take root from Türkiye to the world by expanding its fields including textiles in recent years.
Koray Koçer, Marketing and Commercial Lead of Fazla, tells their story reaching from Türkiye to Spain as follows:
“Our social enterprise, founded in 2017 under the name of Fazla Gıda, set out to prevent carbon emissions caused by food waste and wastage. As the first initiative supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Türkiye, Fazla Gıda established a business model that provides holistic waste management with technology-based solutions. Within the scope of this business model, all idle stocks and wastes left by companies for various reasons were utilised with the highest economic, social and environmental benefit through secondary sales, donation, animal feed and recycling services.
As the only example in the world where all these services are gathered under a single roof, Fazla has positioned as a kind of ‘third party’ waste management department of companies in a short time with its innovative and inclusive business model, a digital platform offering end-to-end traceability and reporting, operational capability and the wide solution partner ecosystem it manages, and managed the waste of hundreds of companies. As of 2022, the work carried out specifically for food was expanded to textile, chemical waste and packaging waste, and the name of the initiative was updated as ‘Fazla’ instead of ‘Fazla Gıda’. For the last 3 years, we have continued to create extra benefits in 4 different areas in the Turkish and Spanish markets.”
In the aforementioned sectors, Fazla transforms products that are surplus for different reasons but can still be used into benefits in different ways. While the products that are still suitable for consumption find buyers at Fazla Market, especially the wastes such as scraps and trimmings that occur a lot in textile production are sent for recycling. Also, the surplus usable products are delivered to those in need through donations.
Surplus products still with commercial value find a second chance at Fazla Market
To benefit from any of these services, the first step is for companies to contact Fazla via the e-mail or phone number on the website. After the conversation, the Fazla team assesses the status of the products / wastes and provides guidance to the companies. If the products still have a commercial value, the secondary sale of these products, which can no longer be sold through the standard sales channel, is realised through the ‘Fazla Market’. If it meets the valid conditions, surplus / return products, products delisted but remaining in stock, etc. are available for sale on this platform.
Waste products provide profit to both nature and companies through recycling
Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of fabric are wasted during the design and production process before clothing products reach the buyers. Therefore, pre-consumer recycling is as important as post-consumer recycling. Koray Koçer explains Fazla’s work on this issue as follows:
‘Recycling is a very important and prioritised issue, especially in the textile industry. Wastes such as trimmings, pieces of fabric and top of batches, which are inevitably generated by companies during the production process, are usually thrown away, but in fact, these parts can also be utilised and recycled into the economy. Within the scope of the circular economy, we collect these production wastes and deliver them to sorting facilities. Here, we recycle the pieces separated according to the type and colour of the fabric. These parts, which are used in felt or regenerated yarn production, provide added value to the sector and companies from the perspective of sustainability, and manufacturers can earn additional income from waste products in this process.’
In cooperation with GKTD, Fazla regularly reaches 1.75 million people in need in Türkiye
‘Our donation service is the area where we emphasise social benefit the most,’ says Koray Koçer, adding that they regularly deliver food, clothing and fuel donations to 1 million 750 thousand people in need through donation operations carried out in cooperation with the Food Rescue Association (Gıda Kurtarma Derneği – GKTD) in Türkiye:
‘Both our manufacturer and retailer partners provide a significant social benefit by donating the surplus products they have and facilitate stock management on their behalf. After the products to be donated are determined by the companies, they are received from the relevant location (warehouse, store, factory) through the food bank network of the GKTD and delivered to those in need. Through our digital platform, the donor company can follow and report the entire process end-to-end. Textile manufacturers or retailers can donate all their products that are slightly faded in colour, have minor defects such as alarm holes, cannot be sold, have been returned but are still in good condition to those in need.’
With its 8 years of experience, Fazla guides the sustainability activities of companies
Fazla, who gained many experiences in waste management and circular economy for about 8 years, shares these experiences with companies through sustainability consultancy and training and supports their transformation and development in this field. These include; creating sustainability agendas of companies, managing the process at every step of corporate social responsibility projects from the idea to the implementation stage, determining the current situation of companies in waste management, waste mapping and presenting improvement suggestions, and in-house training.
‘Our goal is to globalise with our business model by becoming a role model for Turkish youth’
‘As a Turkish startup, our goal since the very first day has been to create a role model for Turkish youth and to globalise our business model,’ says Koray Koçer, noting that they have succeeded in becoming one of the pioneering initiatives in Türkiye in the field of social entrepreneurship:
‘As of 2023, we took our first step in line with our globalisation goal and entered the Spanish market. We are currently managing our operations in various cities in Spain with our office in Madrid as well as in Türkiye. Our plans for the future are to accelerate country expansions and increase the impact we have created to a global scale.’
The existence of such an organisation in 2025 in these fertile lands, which have hosted ancient societies for thousands of years, is very important not only for this geography but also for the whole world. Because it reminds us once again that we are not doomed to the ‘disposable’ life that has spread like a disease in world cultures for only a few centuries. Every step taken for circularity, like medicine, saves and cures our cultures from this single-use disease. We hope that this and similar organisations will set an example for the youth all over the world; they will see each other and blossom one by one, and our garden will flourish.
In line with the steps planned to be taken after COP29, it is evaluated that the average temperature of the world will exceed the critical threshold of 1.5 degrees and exceed 2 degrees in the medium term. Therefore, we should not forget the seriousness of the situation even for a moment. We need to keep this in mind so that a habitable world continues to exist for all living beings, including humans. There can be no reason other than ‘not taking action’ to create circular models from all fields from economy to politics, from fashion to environmental science, and to weave them like a huge web and unite them in life.
