ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE1
Tofaş’s environmental management approach is grounded in the values and principles of its principal shareholder Koç Holding and of Stellantis. The company regards protecting natural resources and conducting its operations with minimum environmental impact as being among its primary responsibilities.
Tofaş focuses on effectively managing and, as much as possible, on minimizing both the direct and the indirect adverse environmental impact of all aspects of its value-creation chain.
ENVIRONMENT & ENERGY POLICY
Tofaş seeks to pass a clean and livable world on to future generations through a sustainable approach when dealing with environment and energy-related matters. In the conduct of all of its operations, Tofaş complies fully with all national and international requirements and it strives constantly to reduce the environmental impact of its manufacturing activities and of its products and services by making continuous improvements in its performance and through the use of appropriate technologies.
Environmental issues are handled by the Tofaş Sustainability Committee and by the Tofaş Sustainability Working Group in line with Tofaş’s Environmental and Energy Policy. Both committee and working group report directly to the Tofaş Board of Directors concerning the company’s environmental performance.
Tofaş passed all of its official and stakeholder-conducted environmental audits in 2021 with no instances of non-compliance.
As the first automotive manufacturer in Turkey to be awarded ISO 14001 Environmental Management System certification, which it received in 1998, Tofaş has had a well-established and sustainable environmental management system ever since The company’s zero non-compliance record has remained unbroken every year since its original certification.
Tofaş deploys effective, integrated environmental management systems in order to:
- Prevent pollution at source and reduce environmental risks;
- Reduce the environmental impact of its products by taking a life-cycle approach;
- Use energy and natural resources responsibly and efficiently;
- Increase the environmental and energy-conservation awareness of employees, other stakeholders, and society at large.
Tofaş successfully passed the environmental audits to which it was subjected both by statutory authorities and by independent agencies in 2021 with a “zero non compliance” rating.
ZERO WASTE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Tofaş’s environmental approach is to possess a World-Class Environment Management System that makes use of proactive and efficient management tools. In order to achieve its “Zero Waste/Zero Loss” goal, the company’s maxim is “If you don’t cause pollution in the first place, then there’s nothing that you have to clean up.”
One consequence of Tofaş’s Environment & Energy Policy is that it seeks both to reduce waste at source and to recover and recycle as much as possible of any waste that may be generated. Thus for example 100% of the industrial waste resulting from its manufacturing processes is either recovered or else used as raw material and energy inputs in the cement industry, thereby helping the company to achieve its “Zero Waste Disposal” goal Tofaş’s Zero Waste Management System, which was set up to prevent pollution at source, to use resources responsibly and efficiently and prevent their waste, and to source-separate, collect, and recycle waste, was awarded “Zero-Waste” certification by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization.
SUSTAINABLE MANUFACTURING ATTITUDES
Having adopted sustainable-manufacturing principles in the conduct of its operations, Tofaş achieves natural resource use efficiency by implementing the “5R” (Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover) hierarchy in all of its production processes.
As a result of a comprehensive assessment carried out at Borsa İstanbul in 2021 by EIRIS, one of the responsible investment industry’s leading research providers, Tofaş remained one of 50 firms in Turkey whose shares qualify for inclusion in the BIST Sustainability Index. In 2021 Tofaş once again submitted its responses concerning climate-change and water-use issues to the Carbon Disclosure Project.
In order to keep all of its stakeholders informed about its targets on environment and sustainability issues, Tofaş transparently publishes the results of its efforts in these areas in sustainability reports and on its corporate website.
1 Published as a section of Tofaş’s 2020 annual report, this environmental performance report covers all environment-related activities carried out by Tofaş Türk Otomobil Fabrikası A.Ş. during the period beginning on 1 January 2020 and ending on 31 December 2020. Unless otherwise noted, this report does not cover the environmental performance either of Tofaş’s Fer Mas Oto Ticaret A.Ş. or Koç Fiat Kredi Finansman A.Ş. subsidiaries or of dealerships. For the same reason, 2021 data had not yet been independently verified at the time this report was still in preparation. All prior-year data has been verified however.
Environmental target |
Performance indicator |
2021 |
2021 (H) |
2024 (H) |
2020-2024 |
Energy consumption |
GJ/vehicle |
3.97 |
4.28 |
3.31 |
-17.4% |
Greenhouse gas emissions |
tCO2e/vehicle |
0.389 |
0.390 |
0.335 |
-12.50% |
VOC emissions |
gr/m2 |
29.4 |
32.18 |
25.9 |
-16% |
Water consumption |
m3/vehicle |
2.91 |
3.07 |
2.86 |
-6.50% |
Waste water discharged |
kg/vehicle |
1.88 |
2.00 |
0.5 |
|
Treated water quality |
COD (% regulatory requirement) |
< 40% |
< 40% |
< 40% |
- |
Total waste generated |
kg/vehicle |
37.77 |
36.21 |
32.85 |
|
Hazardous waste generated |
kg/vehicle |
4.99 |
5.68 |
4.3 |
|
% waste disposed in landfill |
% |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- |
Ozone-depleting substances |
Kg Stock |
24 |
24 |
0 |
-100% |
As a result of efforts to decrease fixed-energy consumption in line with its overall goal of reducing carbon emissions, the 3.97 GJ/vehicle energy-consumption performance that Tofaş achieved in 2021 was better than the target that had been set for the year.
|
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
Total energy consumption (GJ) |
1,496,302 |
1,446,336 |
1,165,961 |
1,042,245 |
993,438 |
906,678 |
Direct energy consumption - natural gas (GJ) |
895,259 |
862,084 |
676,304 |
593,241 |
578,984 |
519,016 |
Indirect energy consumption (GJ) |
601,043 |
584,252 |
489,657 |
449,004 |
414,454 |
387,662 |
Energy consumption/manufactured vehicle (GJ) |
3.88 |
3.76 |
3.86 |
4.01 |
4.02 |
3.97 |
Tofaş makes use of groundwater at its plant. In 2020, an average of 2.98 m3 of fresh water was consumed for every vehicle that was made at the plant; in 2021 this figure was 2.91 m3/vehicle. The company has set itself the goal of further reducing its fresh-water consumption to 2.86 m3/vehicle by 2024 with the assistance of water-recycling projects.
A recirculation system installed at the Tofaş plant made it possible for 60 million m3 of water to be reused in 2021.
During 2021 Tofaş engaged in efforts to reduce its energy consumption and CO2 emissions as specified by the World Class Manufacturing methodology to which it adheres. 384 energy-efficiency projects have been initiated as part of these efforts, thanks to which 77,974 GJ of energy have been conserved and, in this way, 5,148 tons of CO2 emissions have been prevented.* Although the overall 12-monthly reduction in emissions was 72% greater than that of the previous year, the improvement is not reflected in emissions/vehicle performance figures because fewer vehicles were manufactured last year.
* Emissions are calculated according to the methods set forth in the following guidelines: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change-IPCC National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Guidelines, 2006 Greenhouse Gas Protocol: Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (Revised Version)
|
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
Direct greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1) (tCO2e) |
68,467 |
50,062 |
46,266 |
45,653 |
42,790 |
Indirect greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 2) (tCO2e) |
69,136 |
59,253 |
53,247 |
50,303 |
46,180 |
All (100%) of the industrial waste generated in the course of Tofaş’s production operations is recovered and used as raw-material inputs and fuel by cement-makers. This means that Tofaş has effectively achieved its no-disposable-waste (zero-landfill) goal.
Over the last five years Tofaş has achieved around a 15% reduction in its volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions through improvements in its operational controls. Along with changes in manufacturing processes such as the use of solvent-free cleaning products, a switch to one-bell spray-painting technology, the introduction of electrostatically-applied water-borne paints, and the commissioning of the company’s nitrotherm spray project, Tofaş has been able to achieve VOC-emission performance ratings that are well below EU-prescribed limits.
21% of Tofaş’s R&D operations are related to emissions reduction.
ECO-FRIENDLY MATERIALS
The company takes a life-cycle approach when considering the environmental impact of its products and services and it manages their negative and positive effects accordingly.
While striving to reduce the environmental impact of the production and use of the vehicles it makes, Tofaş is also constantly engaged in projects to make those vehicles more eco-friendly. The company sets targets for increasing the use of eco-friendly/recyclable materials in its vehicles while also recovering reusable elements from end-of-life vehicles and ensuring that everything else is disposed of in accordance with national and international regulations. Some of the projects developed under the leadership of the Tofaş R&D team to increase recycling and eco-friendly material use percentages in vehicles are as follows:
- OCEAN FABRIC: Production of seat covers made from fabrics produced from PET bottles recovered from the sea;
- Recycling of industrial PET bottles and innovative production of parts from recycled materials;
- MULTICYCLE: Using methods to restore recovered and recycled plastics over and over again indefinitely by restoring them to their original raw-material state;
- Using bio-based polymer in the manufacture of vehicle parts.
ENVIRONMENT-FOCUSED PROJECTS
Environment-focused projects are foremost among the technological research projects that Tofaş undertakes. These projects are concerned with such matters as vehicle electrification, vehicles that generate fewer emissions or use alternative fuels, using more eco-friendly materials, reducing overall vehicle weights, and recycling. It is expected that the output of some of these projects will be used in existing or newly-developed products in the years ahead.
Given the product life-cycle approach that it takes in the conduct of its operations and taking also into account the needs and expectations of its stakeholders, Tofaş anticipates that a substantial part of the contributions it can make in combating climate change will stem from its own production operations and from the use of vehicles. With the aim of helping to make its stakeholders’ driving experience and the conduct of their transport and distribution operations more sustainable, Tofaş is currently working on the development of vehicles that have lower emission values and/or make use of alternative fuels.
21% of Tofaş’s R&D operations are related to emissions reduction.
In support of the transition to a low-carbon economy, Tofaş takes part in projects to increased conventional-engine efficiency, expand the use of alternative fuel systems, and develop electric and hybrid vehicles that are undertaken in line with Stellantis’s product strategies.
Tofaş undertakes energy-efficiency investments throughout its production operations in order to reduce production-sourced greenhouse gas emissions.
Solarwall Technology & Process Air Heating Project the Tofaş Paint Shop’s Solarwall Technology & Process Air Heating Project is based on the principle of using air directly heated by solar energy in production processes. A trailblazing renewable-energy project in the Turkish automotive industry, the Solarwall system achieves a 35% reduction in process-related energy use. By using solar energy to heat air, Tofaş is avoiding the combustion of 2,181 GJ of natural gas every year while also reducing its GHG emissions by 122 tCO2e annually.
Paint Shop Intelligent Energy Management System
An intelligent energy-management system that makes use of internally-sourced algorithms has been installed in Tofaş’s paint-production plant. Whenever a planned or unplanned production halt occurs, this system automatically puts energy-consuming equipment into standby mode. Using operational data as its inputs, the system detects when production has ended and it automatically shuts down each production line as its production process finishes and reduces the energy supplied to it to the minimum required. Thanks to this system, Tofaş conserves 1,735,776 kWh of electricity and 147,600 m3 of natural gas a year thereby also preventing the release of 1,060 tCO2e into the environment. The Paint Shop Intelligent Energy Management System earned Tofaş the top prize in the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources’ 2021 “Industrial Energy Efficiency Project” competition.
ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS
Tofaş gives great importance to raising awareness about environmental issues and to promoting environmental awareness among its own employees and those of its business partners.
Giving great importance to creating awareness about environmental issues, Tofaş promotes environmental awareness and incentivizes environmentally-conscientious behavior among its own employees and those of its business partners. Environmental management is an issue that is included both in the assignment of annual targets and in Tofaş’s performance evaluation system.
Efforts are made to control and improve Tofaş’s environmental impact whether it arises directly from its own operations or indirectly anywhere along its value chain. The company has committed itself to the constant reduction of any adverse environmental impact.
Tofaş gives great importance to creating awareness about environmental issues and to promoting environmental awareness among its own employees and those of its business partners.
- As part of its efforts to increase environmental awareness, 6,128 employees were provided with a total of 74,512 hours of training in the form of Tofaş Academy training modules as well as through digital platforms during 2021.
- Every visitor and contractor employee entering any of Tofaş’s premises is required to undergo workplace-safety and environmental-risk and rule training. This training must be repeated at least once a year.
- Energy-conservation and environment-protection projects and competitions are used along with visual and other materials to increase environmental awareness within the factory.
- Although various events marking the observance of World Environment Day every year on 5 June have become a tradition at Tofaş, they had to be suspended in 2021 owing to the pandemic.
- In 2021 Tofaş cooperated with the Turkish Marine Environment Protection Association (TURMEPA) in the conduct of an online “Draw A Sea Creature” workshop that its employees’ children took part in.
384 energy-efficiency projects have been initiated as part of the World Class Manufacturing methodology.
ZERO NON-COMPLIANCE
Tofaş commissioned its ISO 14064-1 Greenhouse Gases Management System in 2020 and has been having its annual GHG emissions reports verified ever since. The company’s ISO 50001 Energy Management System was also commissioned in 2013. Independently-conducted audits performed in 2021 found no instances of standards noncompliance in either system. At the time this report was in preparation, no Tofaş operations or other activities had been included in any carbon pricing system, no carbon credits had been purchased, and no carbon-pricing mechanisms were being implemented within the company.
Supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy through its energy-efficiency efforts, Tofaş is currently engaged in efforts to make itself a carbon-neutral company.
SUPPORTING THE LOW-CARBON ECONOMY TRANSITION
Tofaş regards climate change as a matter that has legal implications (such as emission limits), physical and operational implications (such as radical changes in weather conditions), and financial implications (such as emissions trading). As part of its general corporate risk-management operations, the company identifies what risks these issues may entail, determines what its responses will be, and develops sustainable and effective solutions to deal with them.
Tofaş keeps a close watch on the progress of the European Green Deal in order to integrate EGD policies and practices into its own strategies for combating climate change. Tofaş is currently engaged in efforts to make itself a carbon-neutral company. The conduct of its projects to reduce emissions arising from production operations and the results that those projects achieve are independently verified and certified every year.
Supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy through its energy-efficiency efforts, Tofaş is also a corporate member of the Climate Platform. Tofaş has also committed itself to the “2 ˚C Challenge” program, an internationally-promoted corporate-mission statement that calls for global policies and actions to tackle climate change. The hundreds of energy efficiency projects which the company has undertaken are steadily reducing the energy density of its operations. When new investments are to be undertaken or changes are to be made in machinery and equipment, environmental-impact and energy-efficiency procedures are standardized both by initiating a Kanban (lean/just-in-time manufacturing) process and by adhering to best-available-technology (BAT) practices.
Tofaş works with NGOs, professional associations, and statutory authorities in the formulation of policies to deal with environmental issues. As a member of the Turkish Automotive Manufacturers Association and of the Turkish Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association, it takes part in both organizations’ working groups. Tofaş likewise seeks to contribute to the environmental value chain through partnerships with universities and with professional associations and chambers.
