Adil Sani Konukoğlu, Chairman of the Board of Directors of SANKO Holding, who has attended the Uludağ Economy Summit, in which the business world has come together, stated that they have adopted the sustainability as the main strategy within all of their companies.
Adil Sani Konukoğlu, Chairman of the Board of SANKO Holding, has attended the panel “Sustainable Business Models and Strategies for the 21st Century” at the Uludağ Economy Summit. Saying “We are on the eve of a major change environmentally, socially and economically,” Konukoğlu has stated that, as a 120-year-old industrial company as of 1904, they have played a critical role, and that they have carried out pioneering works.
“THERE IS CHANGE IN LIFE. WE ALL HAVE TO ADAPT TO THE CHANGE AND TRANSFORMATION”
Saying that it is more difficult to achieve the sustainability and change within the traditional companies, Konukoğlu has said “While incorporating a new company, you shape anything based on the current conditions; however, there are employees who have been serving within the company for a period of 30-40 years; in such case, we might sometimes have difficulty in making changes. There is change in life. We all have to adapt to the change and transformation,” he has said.
Stating that he has realized that he has difficulty in communicating with the young generation with the changing world, and that he has received the reverse mentoring training from the 18-22 and 24-year-old young persons and that he has find out how to approach and communicate with the new generation, Konukoğlu has said “I have required such matter for our managers as well. As of June, all managers serving within our organization will receive the reverse mentoring training. “Thus, we will find out from which perspective to look at the world” he has said.
Emphasizing that SANKO Holding has been struggling to become a sustainable company for a period of 120 years, Konukoğlu has continued his words as follows:
“My deceased father, Mr. Sani Konukoğlu, would say ‘Any enterprise, which does not renew itself, renews its owner. If you cannot adapt to the change process of the period, then someone will definitely come and acquire your company, and they will perform the change.’
Change does not just happen in your own company. While performing the change, you also have to take into account your environment. We are working in cooperation with the companies that are responsible within the entire supply chain. Also, we are trying to be together with our friends other than our employees, and to address their problems in all of the cities in which we operate. We are trying to act together.”
SANKO HOLDING LEADING THE CHANGE AND TRANSFORMATION WITHIN THE INDUSTRIES
SANKO Holding that leads the industries by making good use of technology in different industrial areas, in which it operates, makes technological investments in many sectors ranging from textile to energy, construction and packaging, and it intends for technological transformation at global standards by planning the digital transformations in the processes of all companies within its organization.
Explaining that SANKO Holding has carried out pioneering work in the industries, in which it operates, Konukoglu has underlined the following information about the sustainability works carried out in the industries:
“We have made our investments in order to gain the recyclable heat in the cement industry. We continue to work in order to reduce the carbon footprint. We have allocated a budget of around 15 million dollars for R&D. We intend to produce the innovative and sustainable products.
Approximately 100 million tons of waste is generated in the world textile industry, and only 1 percent thereof can be recycled. We are trying to lead the industry with respect to recycling.”
Saying that they consider the textile wastes and re-use the same for fabric production in the textile recycling facility, which has been launched in 2021, Konukoğlu has said “We have allocated a budget of around 150 million dollars for such matter.”
Stating that their recycling initiative RE&UP provides contribution to the circular economy with its revolutionary technology, Konukoğlu has told “Our new initiative RE&UP will play a leading role regarding transition to the sustainable fashion and circular economy in the local and global markets with its technology, which is the product of SANKO R&D.”
Clean energy investments
SANKO Energy, which has a 100 percent renewable energy portfolio, has an installed power of 1000 MW.
“In the energy industry, we make all of our investments in the renewable energy sources. We have no fossil fuel investments, nor do we plan to do so.
We also have many innovative works in the packaging industry. For example, we are working on the films that are derived from the seaweed grown on land. It has received the Worldstar Award in the world.
In addition to sustainably renewing our products, we work with all our strength in order to protect our environment and ecosystem. As SANKO, we allocate most of the profit, we make, to our work for the ecosystem.” he has said, and he has emphasized the sensitivity of the holding regarding such matter.
“We care about the presence of women in business life”
Talking about Sanko Holding’s sustainability steps, Adil Sani Konukoğlu has emphasized that the participation rate of women in business life, which makes up half of Türkiye’s population, is quite low, and he also has included SANKO Holding’s women’s employment targets in his speech. Konukoğlu has said, “We will increase our female employee rate to 40 percent until 2030 and to 50 percent until 2035.” He has concluded his speech with the words: “If I do not see a female CV alternative to a male CV for the managerial position in the appointments performed today, I will not approve it.”
In addition to Adil Sani Konukoğlu, Chairman of the Board of Directors of SANKO Holding, Ebru Dildar Edin, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Business and Sustainable Development Council Türkiye, Murat Bilgic, Member of the Board of Directors of Industrial Development Bank of Türkiye, Osman Arıoğlu, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of Eksim Holding, and Dr. Ömer Özgür Tort, CEO of Migros Group have included as the speakers in the panel “Sustainable Business Models and Strategies in the 21st Century”, which has been moderated by Ali Emre Sever, CEO of Multinet Up.
Uludağ Economy Summit, which has organized by Capital and Economist Magazines in Sapanca this year, has been held with the theme “Responsible and Responsive Leadership: Leading a System Compatible with the Planet and Humanity in the Age of Technology and Artificial Intelligence”.
About SANKO Holding’s new initiative RE&UP:
The new initiative RE&UP offering a revolutionary technology
RE&UP technology has been developed in consequence of SANKO Holding’s 120 years of textile experience and more than 10 years of R&D studies within the company. RE&UP is a revolutionary next-generation technology initiative that transforms the textile waste into the high-quality, sustainable and immediately ready-to-use recyclable raw materials.
By providing a solution to one of the global bottlenecks of recycling in the textile industry, RE&UP accelerates transition to a circular economy model in the industry by re-integrating the textile waste into the textile value chain.
Serving with the recyclable fiber facilities in Gaziantep and Bursa, RE&UP Recycling Technologies has a revolutionary feature regarding the textile-to-textile recycling. It supports the fashion industry’s rapid transition to a circular model.
