Sun Tekstil, one of the largest industrial enterprises in Türkiye, and its subsidiary Ekoten Tekstil shared their holistic sustainability approach with the public with the 2022 Sustainability Report. According to the report, Sun Tekstil produced 64% of all its products using sustainable raw materials last year, while its subsidiary Ekoten Tekstil aims to reduce its water requirement in production from 945 thousand m3 to 50 thousand m3 by recycling its own wastewater by the end of 2023.
As of 2021, Sun Tekstil started to offer its customers whose infrastructure is compatible with its customers in digital environment by using three-dimensional mould preparation software. In this way, the company reduced physical sample production by 38% in 2022. Having obtained ISO 14001 certification for its central production facility in Torbalı, Izmir, Sun Tekstil balanced the electrical energy consumption from the grid in its production facilities and administrative offices with I-REC certified 100% renewable energy source in 2022.
Ekoten Textile is greener and more sustainable in investments
In 2012, Ekoten Tekstil started reporting its greenhouse gas emissions according to international standards and managed to reduce these emissions by 6% in 2022 compared to the previous year. The company will increase its water recovery rate to 95% with the water treatment plant investment, the installation of which was completed in December 2022. By the end of 2023, Ekoten will meet its production needs by recovering its own wastewater, thus reducing its annual water requirement of approximately 945 thousand m3 to 50 thousand m3 when operating at full capacity.
Ekoten Tekstil, which was rated with an ‘A-/Leadership’ score in the 2022 Climate Change Programme of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), was also included in the Global Leaders List with a score of A in CDP’s Supplier Relationship Rating programme. The company was among the few Turkish textile companies that committed to set science-based targets for the Science Based Targets Initiative Platform in 2022.
Ekoten Tekstil eliminated its indirect greenhouse gas emissions
Ekoten Tekstil, which balanced its electrical energy consumption from the grid between 2020-2022 with 100% renewable energy source with I-REC certificate, thus eliminated indirect greenhouse gas emissions caused by imported energy according to ISO 14064-2019 Standard. The company is committed to balancing all grid electricity use with I-REC certification by 2030. Ekoten also met 40% of the annual electricity need of its knitting factory in Torbalı, Izmir, from the solar power plant located in the facility. With this SPP system, the company generates 1,410,000 kWh of electricity annually, reducing approximately 690 tonnes of CO2 greenhouse gas emissions annually. This means a 45% reduction compared to the base year of 2012. Ekoten also managed to reduce its total water consumption by 51% and water consumption per unit product (kg fabric) by 68% in 2022.
“Sustainability and digital transformation cannot be separated”
Emphasising that they pioneered the concept of sustainable fashion that respects nature, Sun Tekstil Chairperson of the Board of Directors Elvan Ünlütürk stated that they strengthened their work in this field with the goal of ‘designing a sustainable future together’. Ünlütürk continued as follows: “We are carrying out our efforts to increase the rate of value-added recycling of textile waste from textile to textile, which is one of the most important problems of our industry. We believe that sustainable transformation cannot be separated from digital transformation and we are realising our strategies with significant investments in this direction.”
Ünlütürk disclosed that the company’s goals and values are always determined within the framework of economic, social and environmental sustainability, and reiterated that its activities are also carried out within this scope. Ünlütürk added that they also invest in human resources within the framework of sustainability and support training activities.
