Crown’s Turkish Operations Recognized for Their Sustainability Efforts

Crown's İzmit plant
Monday, March 21, 2022

As part of our commitment to operating as a sustainable Company, we are proud of our latest recognition with a Zero Waste Certificate Initiative awarded by the Turkish government to our beverage can operations in Izmit and Osmaniye. The award is part of Turkey’s Zero Waste Policy, an action plan initiated in 2017 by local authorities, with the primary goal of collecting and separating all waste and increasing recycling rates, both in industrial and consumer environments across the country.

With the active engagement of our employees, the two plants implemented a series of measures that yielded powerful results:

  • Re-using wastewater through the installation of a reverse osmosis system;
  • Reducing hazardous waste by 80%;
  • Reducing chemical usage by 60% and where possible, implementing recycling and decreasing waste incineration;
  • Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emission rates by more than 10% through increased energy-saving activities;
  • Reducing GHGs emitted during the transportation of hazardous chemicals and waste by 90%;
  • Reducing waste deposited in landfills by 95%.

These efforts were supported by the installation of a new compost machine to convert canteen waste to organic fertilizer and using a wastewater treatment process for the water from the cooling towers, thus achieving a 20% decrease of water usage.

“One of our greatest achievements on our sustainability journey has been seeing our employees understand the impact they can have on making our daily operations more environmentally-friendly,” commented Alp Sarioglu, General Manager Turkey at Crown Bevcan EMEA. “We believe that to truly embed sustainability in an organization, we must engage the workforce in the co-creation of our operating practices. We encourage and appreciate their continued contributions to our progress.”

Our achievements in Turkey align directly with the principles and targets outlined in our global Twentyby30 program. In Turkey, we will continue to emphasize employee awareness and encourage our team to share their ideas for environmental initiatives. In 2022, we will focus on projects that support Crown’s global sustainability program, prioritizing additional ways to reduce and save water, as well as maximizing our geographical position to capitalize on solar panel system installation.

Beyond reducing waste across our operations, we are committed to advancing recycling rates of aluminum beverage cans globally. To further this cause, we recently announced our partnership with industry partners to achieve ambitious new global recycling rate goals in the regions where we maintain operations. The goals are as follows:

  • Asia Pacific: Work with industry partners to establish country-wide recycling rates in the three major markets in which we operate: Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. Establish 2030 recycling rate goals by the end of 2025.
  • Americas:
    • U.S.: In line with our industry partners, strive to achieve: 70% by 2030, 80% by 2040 and 90% by 2050.
    • Mexico: Continue to maintain >90% through 2030. Work with industry partners to establish a country-wide recycling rate.
    • Brazil: Continue to maintain >97% through 2030.
  • Europe: We will work with industry partners throughout the EMEA region to strive for an 80% recycling rate in the countries in which we operate.

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