Turkey Materials Marketplace Our rate of consuming natural resources has long surpassed the rate at which nature can regenerate and provide them to us. Today, we consume 1.6 times what the world can produce. For this reason, the management of resources in a more sustainable and efficient manner is an unavoidable necessity today.
According to the year 1900 today,
Per capita energy consumption has tripled,
Raw material usage has doubled,
The world population has increased fivefold.
The way to turn the problem of excessive resource use, which negatively affects the world, into an economic benefit is through the transformation of waste, seen as worthless and a financial burden, into a value for the environment and the economy, that is, through the circular economy. (1)
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has initiated a collaboration with the U.S. Business Council for Sustainable Development (US BCSD) and the Business World and Sustainable Development Association (SKD Turkey) to implement the Turkey Materials Marketplace project, a cloud-based platform designed to support the inter-industry reuse of materials by Turkish companies and organizations.
EBRD is funding the project under the NØW Program, which supports waste reduction projects in Turkish industry and municipalities, aiming to create a change within the framework of the circular economy concept in the scope of national waste management in Turkey.
According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, in 2012, industrial processes accounted for 14.27% of greenhouse gas emissions in Turkey, while the waste sector accounted for 8.23%.
Addressing these two sectors from a circular market perspective in Turkey will have the following benefits;
Removing barriers to the development of waste and material management
Achieving higher levels of resource efficiency in industry and thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions
Thanks to the Turkey Materials Marketplace project, which enables the waste or by-products of a company or industry to be used as raw materials by another industry, companies can access raw materials at more favorable prices while also avoiding disposal costs for waste. For detailed information on the subject, you can visit the Turkey Materials Marketplace website.
In addition, the five main circular business models identified by Accenture's analysis of over 120 companies that increase resource efficiency through innovation-based methods guide companies. Companies participating in the Materials Marketplace project achieve economic value by both preventing the disposal and storage of valuable materials and obtaining affordable raw materials from recycled/reused materials. This project, which aims to reach the ultimate goal of sustainability practices in the business world, 'zero waste', is also expected to create a synergy among the sustainability-leading companies in the business world.
