UN Sustainable Development Goals

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a universal call to action, aim to eradicate poverty, protect our planet and ensure that all people live in peace and prosperity.

For more information on the background of the Sustainable Development Goals, click here.

As GCA, our work focuses on Sustainable Development Goals, especially on Gender Equality, Responsible Production and Consumption, and Life in Water.

5 Social Gender Equality

According to the results of the social innovation review conducted by Stanford University, it is stated that it will take 257 years to reach economic gender equality. As GCA, we try to give equal chances to all potential candidates, female or male, with our policies and practices in our company and to support our female employees to advance in their careers with equal rights.

In addition, within the scope of Gender Equality, we contribute to the Business Against Domestic Violence project at the Gürok Holding level with the contributions of Sabancı University and TÜSİAD. The Business Against Domestic Violence (BADV) Project was initiated in 2013 by the Sabancı University Corporate Governance Forum to create support mechanisms in the workplaces against the violence exposed in close relationships and reduce domestic violence by using the managerial and organizational skills of the business world. Within the scope of the project, company applications started as of 2016. It covers the support and monitoring of voluntary companies like ours, which are committed to creating a company policy on domestic violence using a pilot implementation guide, throughout the process as an 'implementer company'.

12 Responsible Production and Consumption

As GCA, we take part in the Future For the Furnace (F4F), designed under the leadership of FEVE, within the scope of Responsible Production and Consumption, another of the Sustainable Development Goals.

20 global glass packaging manufacturers from Europe, including GCA, came together under the leadership of FEVE to implement the world's first hybrid-electric large-scale glass melting furnace that works with 80% green energy.

The furnace, which is planned to replace existing fossil fuel energy sources, is expected to reduce total CO₂ emissions in glass packaging production by 50%. With the new technology, more than 300 tons of glass can be melted per day in a single furnace using high levels of recycled glass. You can find detailed information on the subject at https://feve.org/about-glass/furnace-for-the-future/.

14 Life Below Water

This Sustainable Development Goal is set for the conservation and sustainable use of seas, oceans and marine resources. You can find more detailed information about the Life Below Water goal here.

Protecting the seas and other water resources strengthens the fight against poverty by increasing people's incomes and improving their health. At the same time, protecting the health of water resources reduces the effects of climate change and facilitates the conformity of aquatic creatures to the environment.

In addition, since the seas and other water resources are home to many living things from single-celled organisms to the largest creatures, blue whales, studies are carried out around the world within the scope of this goal in order to protect the living ecosystem in water resources.

As GCA, we are aware that glass packaging, which can be recycled 100% and infinitely, plays an important role as the sustainable material of the future in protecting the habitats of sea creatures. We are proud of our work and we strive to work in this direction. In addition to the awareness-raising activities we have been carrying out for years, this year on 14 April World Dolphin Day, we carried out the dolphin adoption project on behalf of all GCA employees in order to contribute to the efforts made for the protection of dolphins and the sustainability of their habitats around the world. We are aware that we should act responsibly for the sustainability of natural habitats around the world, acting on the fact that small steps will lead to big results.

 

GCA Environmental Data and Processes

Greenhouse gas emissions and waste data of our GCA Factory for the past years must be kept up-to-date.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions: The process is followed by us, and the emission monitoring plan is checked every year and revised if necessary. By taking annual data and making calculations, a greenhouse gas emission report is created. Then, the process is completed after an audit is passed by the verification body authorized by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization.

According to the Regulation on Control of Packaging Waste, packaging manufacturers must use recycled materials at the rates determined in the regulation within the scope of expanded producer responsibility (Recycled material is glass cullet we buy from outside. Waste is not glass cullet). The Ministry of Environment and Urbanization is notified in quarterly periods regarding the usage in question.

Although our GCA facility is a glass packaging manufacturer, it is also a marketer, as it offers its products in different packaging to the market. Packaging declaration is made every year through the online system of the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization. The statement on the market at the rates determined in the relevant regulation is documented by the institutions authorized, the ministry, and its recycling is ensured. Packaging declaration and certification are made through the leading company, and it includes our GCA facilities. Lastly, accreditation of paper-cardboard and plastic packaging is carried out by GCA to the ministry.

Some of the Projects We Carried Out under the European Green Consensus and FEVE:

The frequency of encountering terms such as climate change, greenhouse effect, global warming, and carbon emissions in daily life is increasing day by day. In the light of current international and national developments, we see that these terms take the existing social and economic orders differently. On 11 December 2019, the EU brought up the roadmap, which aims to reorganize its previous commitments more broadly and effectively, with the name of the European Green Deal (EU Green Deal) on 11 December 2019.

We believe that climate change and sustainability are the two main issues that need to be worked hard on to realise a mega change in the environment. The growth visions of the companies should be in line with the sensitive use of the resources they use. Because we foresee that with the green agreement, business models that will increase material efficiency in the supply chain, reduce production costs and increase competitiveness will be more reflected in the financial statements.

In the EU's growth model in June 2020 on the same issue, it was emphasized that developments in the long-term supply chain should be experienced. As GCA, by following environmentally friendly technologies closely and adapting ourselves where necessary; we aim to contribute to the renewal of the industry by investing in R&D and innovation for the future.

In this context, we continue our work in 2021 with the European Glass Packaging Manufacturers Association (FEVE), of which we are a member and representative in Turkey since the day we were founded.