Environmental Sustainability

Akçansa regards the reduction of its environmental footprint as one of its most important priorities while maintaining its activities. To this end, the company has been working for many years to maximize energy efficiency in all its facilities, to derive energy from clean sources, to reduce greenhouse gas and other pollutant air emissions, to limit water consumption by using water resources in the most efficient way, to increase recovery rates in line with a circular economy perspective, to implement an effective waste management hierarchy at all sites with a zero waste approach and to minimize environmental impacts by protecting biodiversity.

In order to successfully manage environmental impacts, the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System is effectively carried out in all our plants and facilities.

Our company successfully completed the independent audit carried out by the Turkish Ready Mixed Concrete Association Quality Assurance System Economic Enterprise (KGS) in 2018 with its Büyükçekmece plant and became the first cement company in Türkiye to receive the Responsible Use of Resources Certificate issued by the Concrete Sustainability Council (CSC). In 2020, our Çanakkale plant became the first plant in Türkiye to receive the same certificate at the gold level. Subsequently, our Büyükçekmece plant also upgraded its certificate to gold, making Akçansa the only company to have received this certificate type with 2 of its plants. We also maintained our gold-level certificates in our Gebze and Kemerburgaz ready-mixed concrete plants.

Combating and Adapting to Climate Change

Akçansa manages its efforts to combat climate change with short, medium, and long-term targets in line with the risks and opportunities identified in its strategic management processes.

Akçansa’s understanding of managing climate change-related risks is, accordingly, structured in line with improving operational processes, developing sustainable products, and acting in accordance with its low-carbon strategy in the entire product life cycle.

Akçansa actively participates in national, international, and sectoral initiatives to combat, mitigate, and adapt to climate change and develops performance-enhancing practices and collaborations by monitoring opportunities to transition to a low-carbon economy.

Our company aims to increase energy efficiency in all its activities to limit the impacts on our climate, reduce greenhouse gas and other air emissions, utilize alternative or renewable energy resources in cement production processes, and effectively manage resources in production processes by using alternative raw materials.

In 2013, Akçansa received the industry’s first ISO 50001 certification covering its three cement plants and the Çanakkale port facility. With its Waste Heat Energy Recovery Facility with a capacity of 15 MW at the Çanakkale Plant, the company blazed a trail in Türkiye, enabling the reuse of waste heat generated during the production process.

line with its transparency approach, Akçansa continues to participate in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), which it joined in 2011.

Here you can access CDP and other reports.

Air Quality and Emission Management

Within the scope of our 2030 Sustainability Goals, emissions generated in all basic processes are carefully calculated and monitored, and efforts to reduce them are regularly continued. Akçansa aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from production by using alternative fuels and raw materials. In addition to greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, trace amounts of dust, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and other pollutant emissions are monitored, and mitigation efforts are carried out.

Air and dust emissions such as NOx, SOx, CO, TOC, heavy metals, HF, HCl, Dioxin, and Furan released in cement production are continuously monitored at Akçansa plants. Thanks to the CEMS-Continuous Emission Measurement Systems in all factory chimneys, dust and combustion gases in the chimneys are monitored instantaneously 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, together with the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation & Climate Change, and Provincial Directorates.

Dust emissions generated during cement production stages are prevented by bag filtering systems, which constitutes the best available technique. With the Non-Catalytic Selective Non-Catalytic Reduction (SNCR) systems in all our plants, NOx emissions from the combustion process are reduced.

All legal requirements regarding all dust and gas emissions are regularly checked by annual measurements carried out by accredited institutions, and the results are shared with the appropriate authorities.

Circular Economy and Waste Management

In Türkiye, the proper utilization of waste is an issue with significant room for improvement. In addition to the capacity problems related to the sustainable disposal of large quantities of waste, the cost of landfill sites and the impacts of greenhouse gases from waste are significant.

Since waste can be used as an alternative fuel and raw material source in cement plants and clinker production process works in line with the ‘Zero Waste’ principle, non-recyclable wastes can be utilized as a much more environmentally friendly alternative. Almost all of the waste generated can be brought back into the economy as energy recovery.

As a company, we reduce our use of fossil fuels by focusing on alternative sources that cause lower carbon emissions. Our alternative fuel utilization rate is above the sector average, which sets us apart.

Within the scope of our company’s 2030 Sustainability Goals, reducing our environmental footprint, supporting the circular economy, and increasing the use of alternative raw materials and energy sources in this direction are among our top priority topics. In addition to the use of alternative fuels, Akçansa reduces the consumption of natural resources by increasing the use of alternative raw materials through activities pursued in line with the Life Cycle Approach and expands the extent of its contribution to the circular economy through cooperation projects for solid and liquid waste disposal in its operational regions. In the past 5 years, our company has diverted 1 million tonnes of waste from landfills by using it as an alternative fuel source and recycling it back into the economy. The energy recovered from this waste is equivalent to the daily needs of 1.5 million people.

Water Management

At Akçansa, we know that the world’s clean water resources are decreasing due to the effects of climate change and that water risk is increasing daily. We consider water a valuable and indispensable resource and prioritize Effective Water Management.

Our company complies with wastewater quality requirements within the framework of local legislation and permits due to our awareness that wastewater is an alternative resource capable of reducing the environmental impact of water discharges. At Akçansa, we continuously monitor the amount of water used in cooling, washing, irrigation, dedusting processes, and domestic purposes in the regions where we operate and develop action plans to minimize consumption. Our company also uses the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System, which it implements in its facilities, to assess and manage water-related risks.

Biodiversity

The basic raw materials used in cement production are obtained directly from natural resources. Natural resource consumption, land use, operation of mining sites, water consumption, waste, and noise from cement production are factors affecting biodiversity.

Akçansa has identified its operations as strategic priorities and included them in its 2030 Sustainability Goals. The aim is to prevent any permanent negative impacts on biodiversity, which plays a vital role in the continuity of natural life and society, and also to make a positive contribution.

Akçansa places great emphasis on the significance of recycling and rehabilitating raw material sites in order to minimize the impact on the environment caused by the usage of natural resources; this is achieved in line with the priority areas identified by the company regarding corporate sustainability.

In 2018, our company was awarded an international prize in the ‘Quarry Life Award’ competition organized by Heidelberg Materials for its work titled ‘Planting Trial with a New Approach in Bozalan Clay Mine Site’ within the scope of the rehabilitation of mine sites.