SDG 13 Steps: How Turkish Denim Mills are Embracing Climate Action
Reducing fashion’s carbon footprint has never been more imperative. A recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change indicates that without immediate and widespread intervention in shrinking emissions, it will be impossible to keep global warming limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
According to the United Nations, fashion is responsible for an estimated 2 to 8 percent of the world’s total carbon emissions. Companies in the private sector are taking action. Signatories of the U.N.’s Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action, including Lenzing, have committed to a goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.
In addition to signing on to the UNFCCC, Lenzing has reduced its own carbon impact through True Carbon Zero TENCEL™. For the fibers, we have reduced the carbon footprint of the production process as much as possible. Any energy use that cannot be avoided is then offset.
Around the globe, denim mills are innovating to address U.N. Sustainable Development Goal 13 on climate action. Read on to see how mills in Turkey—including Bossa, Calik, DNM, Kipas and Orta—are reducing their carbon footprints.
BOSSA
Turkey
Bossa is working to reduce carbon, but the manufacturer has not yet set official goals related to its carbon footprint.
As part of its climate push, Bossa prioritizes energy efficiency, using the ISO 5001 Energy Management System as a guide for its own policies. This covers all elements of the business—from production to sales and marketing activities. For instance, LED lighting has been installed to cut back on power use. The manufacturer trains employees on energy management. Bossa has also switched to natural gas to power electricity, heat and steam creation to cut its emissions. The company’s efforts in 2020—which included reusing waste steam and improved insulation—resulted in less natural gas consumption in 2021.
Steam is needed to run finishing processes, and Bossa is getting 12 percent of its steam from a cogeneration engine. Eighty-four percent of all energy units are steam and hot water heat.
Fifty percent of Bossa’s energy needs come from its factory facility. More than 18,000 solar panels on the roof and the cogeneration system reduce the reliance on outside energy.
Bossa lowers its impact by recycling its post-industrial waste back into new materials, with the goal of reaching 15 percent recycled fiber inputs in 2021.
CALIK DENIM
Turkey
For Calik Denim, sustainable action is a well-rounded endeavor. The company’s Transformation Lab works to lead progress on the SDGs through thought leadership and research projects. Calik also believes in industry collaboration, such as Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Jeans Redesign program.
Selen Ergül, marketing communications executive at Calik, explains:
“Being a United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) participant company, Calik Denim carries out our activities by blending our passion for denim and life in the best way. We would like to proudly state that not only with our products that we offer to the sector for commercial purposes; we always strive to transform all our business processes into the best in order to create a positive impact for a better life in our field of operation and on our planet. We work on projects to evolve not only ourselves but also the industry we are in. Considering all these, we are working to reach our 2025 sustainability goals, which we have set within the scope of our sustainability strategy ‘Passion for Denim, Passion for Life,’ and to run towards new goals by setting even better ones.
“While global warming affects the life of humanity, we continue our works to reduce our carbon emissions in our activities within the scope of UN SDG 13 – Climate Action. In this matter, we can share that our 2025 sustainability targets that directly affect carbon emission reduction are as follows: ‘Reducing carbon emissions per unit production by 20 percent compared to the year 2018’; ‘increasing renewable energy generation by 10 percent compared to the year 2020’; and ‘increasing electricity purchases from renewable sources to 50 percent.’ One of the most valuable steps we have taken in this matter is we have quit coal in steam production from July 2021. We now use natural gas for steam generation. Thus, we will gradually reduce our carbon emissions from fossil fuels.
“We monitor our carbon emissions separately on the basis of Scope 1, 2 and 3, and we are working on improvements at all necessary points. We do article-based life cycle assessment (LCA) studies and obtain Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) certificates. In this way, we can compare the carbon emissions of all kinds of processes and fiber content, and we share the environmental impact score of our products with all transparency thanks to the QR Code Integrated System we offer with our products.
“As with all our commitments, within the scope of UN SDG 13 – Climate Action, we continue our activities in order to find solutions to the climate crisis and to create a wider positive impact by bringing a holistic approach.”
DNM DENIM
Turkey
Sustainability has been part of DNM Denim’s strategy since it opened a decade ago. This includes choosing better materials and processes that lower its footprint.
Zuhal Karacayir, marketing executive at DNM, shared how DNM is tackling SDG 13:
“Recognizing the climate-related risks of our industry and the urgent need to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels as the main driver on progress on the SDGs, at DNM Denim we support the development of low emission products. To that end, we integrated our energy efficiency strategy with the low-carbon strategy.
“The carbon footprint calculation work comprises verification in line with the EN ISO 14064-1:2012. Establishing a baseline carbon footprint—by capturing our emissions outputs—is an important first step.
“DNM Denim has a waste management strategy that includes an incineration plant. This system operates at 1400 degrees Celsius, deactivating all hazardous waste while saving 15 percent natural gas for steam generation, which is then reused during the wet process. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, these operations are carried out with sophisticated filtration systems. As a result, we were able to eliminate chemical waste and save energy.
“We like to use materials that have a minimal carbon impact, and we’re aiming to expand our use of these materials with new development. For instance, we provide an authentic denim look with soft hand feel with TENCEL™ that has low carbon emissions. This is only one of many long-term solutions.
“Additionally, we are doing some arrangement in the mill for reducing carbon footprint. Lighting and air conditioners have been replaced with modern models that have low carbon emission and consume less electricity. The vehicles (forklift) used in the factory start to be replaced with electric models.
“As a result, DNM Denim continues to reduce its carbon footprint by using energy efficiently and introducing innovative processes of production to ensure sustainability. In 2020, DNM reduced carbon impact by 10 percent compared to 2019.”
KIPAS
Turkey
Kipas is on the way to becoming a “climate positive producer,” a goal the mill has set for 2030.
One of Kipas’ carbon reduction initiatives has been reducing some of its coal consumption by shifting to natural gas. Since 2018, the company has installed six RAM machines that run on natural gas. Kipas is also investing in renewable energy with the addition of solar panels, which provide 12.3 million kWh of energy per year.
The manufacturer is also targeting carbon emissions from its wastewater by using the carbon dioxide from its coal boiler to neutralize the sodium hydroxide (NaOH) in the wastewater. Not only is this aimed at reducing carbon emissions by 70 percent, but the use of CO2 also prevents the need for acid to neutralize the wastewater PH.
Kipas is measuring and offsetting its climate impact. Between 2018 and 2018, the mill’s GHG emissions dropped from almost 215 million kg to 111 kg even as production output grew from 57 to 72 million meters of fabric. The company is planting half a million trees, which will counteract 361.5 million kg of CO2.
ORTA
Turkey
Orta’s sustainability story began in the early 1990s, with initiatives including energy efficiency projects. Today, the company is aiming toward a “net-positive future” for denim with a combination of durability and circularity.
Here, Sebla Onder, sustainability specialist at Orta, explains the mill’s approach to cutting carbon:
“In the early 2010s, we did our first greenhouse gas measurements to asses our climate change impact, and saw that the hotspot of our GHG emissions was our energy consumption. But long before this assessment, in the early 1990s, we established our in-house cogeneration facility where we started generating our own electricity and heat as the first step of our initiatives toward better energy consumption. In the following years, we increased energy conservation and management initiatives within our operations. In order to manage our energy consumption in a more systematic way, we acquired ISO 50001 Management System Certificate in 2015. Since then, our Energy Management Team, trained by United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), has been taking steps for efficient energy generation and consumption with the support of representatives from each production and operation unit in our facilities. Some of the actions we take are: increased preventive maintenance works, changes to more energy efficient equipment and systems, and transformation to LED lighting in our facilities. Even though it constitutes less than 1 percent of our organizational carbon footprint, we also changed our sales teams’ cars to hybrids to reduce transport-related carbon emissions.
“The climate crisis and the recent climate-related natural disasters motivate us to take urgent action to combat climate change, hence reduce our GHG emissions. In line with this, thanks to the initiatives we have started in 2020, we started using 100 percent renewable energy in our spinning and weaving facilities. And today, 96 percent of our purchased electricity is generated from renewable energy sources, which accounts for 40 percent of our total electricity consumption. This saves around 15,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually, which is equivalent to carbon emissions captured by 45,000 trees.
“As product level action, we are using life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology to calculate the global warming potential, which indicates climate change impact of our fabrics starting from the raw material production. With this methodology, we assess the contribution of every input and output of our fabrics, detect hot spots for improvement and act on improvement.
“At Orta, when we are developing a product or a system, we consider the whole life cycle of it from a holistic point of view. We do not only look at the environmental benefit of this new creation to Orta but also consider its impact on our supply chain, on our customers and the consumers who will wear them. That is why we greatly value the power of LCA here.
“For more than four years now, we assess every newly developed fabric’s potential environmental impact via LCA and share the data through QR codes on product hangtags. We also do this assessment for every new fiber, chemical usages as well as major energy efficiency projects to assess the reflection of our sustainability initiatives to our product’s environmental footprint. When we do research for a new fiber, while we examine its physical properties and performance on one hand, we also look into its environmental impact, check for its carbon footprint and simulate its usage in our designs via LCA to see how it affects our fabrics’ impacts. That is why we greatly value working with Lenzing, who offers us low-impact solutions compared to generic regenerated cellulosics and transparently shares its products’ environmental footprint.”