The progress of the Empowering the Private Sector to Foster Social and Economic Cohesion in Türkiye (FOSTER) Project was discussed during the 6th Steering Committee Meeting, which took place in a hybrid format on February 7. Representatives from the European Union, KfW Development Bank, and our stakeholders attended the meeting held at KOSGEB.

Thanks to the FOSTER Project Employment Committed SME Support Programme, Baran Tur, a Gaziantep-based company, has not only retained the jobs of two Turkish citizens but also employed two foreigners under temporary protection. The company stands out with its environmentally conscious business practices, actively addressing global issues such as the climate crisis and resource scarcity. Committed to fulfilling its environmental and social responsibilities, the company takes a proactive stance. As the FOSTER team, we met with them to discuss how they manage these processes. Ms. Zeynep Aydaş, the Quality Assurance Specialist at the company, answered our questions.

How did you become acquainted with the carbon footprint?

We learned about carbon footprint during the Green Deal process. More precisely, we became aware of the carbon footprint after our country’s sustainability goals were announced in 2016, and we learnt how important the carbon footprint is through a training provided by the Chamber of Commerce.  Afterwards, we began to take action on this topic questioning why we are not creating awareness about it and why we are not calculating our carbon footprint.

We installed rooftop solar panel systems. We completed the first phase and are now working on the second phase with the government support. To reduce water usage, we made a seemingly small but an important change by converting all the faucets used by employees to sensor-operated ones after discovering that many faucets were forgotten and left open, sometimes even over the weekends. So, we realized the importance of sensor-operated faucets. We made significant financial gains from both solar panels and water reduction, as well as moral gains, as employees’ awareness raised. Today, if we can reduce our environmental damage by even just one unit, we leave a significant mark as humanity.

Do you have any suggestions for other SMEs regarding this matter?

In my opinion, they should make an investigation on the issue and assess themselves. They should initially analyze things like how much electricity they consume, how many kW of energy is used, or how many tons of water are being used, and what the losses are.

They should also evaluate things like how much gasoline is spent on company vehicles for transportation or how much thermal power is consumed for heating in terms of natural gas, coal, fossil fuels, and what the costs are. Because when we controlled all these things, we came up with very serious projects.

I didn’t mention it earlier, but I would like to mention it now. For example, we don’t use natural gas or fossil fuels. In the past, 20 to 30 tons of coal were used annually solely for heating. Right now, we do not pay for natural gas or coal. Instead, we use an exchanger to transmit heat from the compressor’s hot oil to the water. Thus, we gain from pumping water into the radiators as well.

Finally, you have FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certifications, and how have you benefitted from them?

If you export to Europe, you indeed have to be careful. Today, when you buy a T-shirt from major brands, you see the FSC emblem on the information sheets sent in the package. It’s a tiny piece of paper, but it means that the paper is produced from sustainable forests, permitted forests, or forests under control, which is what FSC stands for. We also have this perspective.

We thank you for your sensitivity and great efforts.

The KOSGEB delegation, led by Vice President Mr. Bilal Kendirci, came together with the SMEs benefitting from the Employment Committed SME Support Programme, within the scope of FOSTER Project in Adana, Mersin, Gaziantep, and Şanlıurfa.

During the visits, SMEs benefiting from the Employment Committed SME Support Programme gave feedback on the monitoring and payment processes, and SMEs stated that the supports are very valuable in terms of increasing their production and employment capacities and strengthening their competitiveness levels.