Environment

We build our environmental management system in line with our goals to minimize our environmental footprint and to do our part. All our production lines are certified to the “ISO 14001:2015 Environment Management System Standard”. Within the scope of our environmental policy, we carry out an environmental risk assessment and analysis in all our processes and take necessary precautions against the risks that we deem risky. In light of the assessments, we create action plans to determine areas for improvement after our assessments to maximize our performance. 

Sustainable Forest Management 

Forests are the world’s most valuable natural asset given their social and ecological functions. The most critical factor for sustaining forests is to ensure their economic, social and ecological management. Just like any other living thing, trees are born, grow, mature, age, and die. Forest maintenance works identify the trees that have reached the end of their lives and using various techniques, they are regenerated based on their species and biological structure. The raw materials used in our facilities consist of products obtained during the regeneration and maintenance works necessary for the sustainability of our forests and timber production waste. At Kastamonu Entegre, we process these products and turn them into economic value, while at the same time making sure that the forests are maintained in a healthy condition. 

In 2019, we planted 92,000 poplars on 864 acres of land intended for intensive wood production, which we rented for 32 years in the city of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. We aim to plant an additional 20,000 saplings by the end of 2022 to expand the project to 97,700 total number of afforested saplings.

Kastamonu Bulgaria AD leads its production with respect towards the environment and is fully aware of its social responsibilities, having increased its environmental sensitivity by acquiring a certificate of FSC® Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC® C141084 ). The certificate FSC® guarantees that the raw materials used in production are obtained from responsibly managed forests and other controlled sources, and this is checked and monitored by an independent certification authority. Kastamonu Bulgaria AD may offer FSC® - certified products upon the customers' request.

Considering the fact that wood is the primary raw material of our industry and 100 percent recyclable, we at Kastamonu Entegre launched a significant investment in Italy in 2017. The wood-based panel industry in Italy operates on recycled materials. We purchased a particle board manufacturing facility from Gruppo Trombini and launched it into production in 2018 after completing the necessary upgrades. 

The Fight Against Climate Change and Energy Management 

Climate change has become a global problem with negative implications all around our planet, threatening life, biodiversity, and socio-economic systems. Armed with an awareness of our responsibilities within the scope of Climate Action, a UN Sustainable Development Goal, we work diligently on carbon and energy management. 

Reducing the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere resulting from the use of wood is one of the key indicators of our industry's contribution to the fight against climate change. There are two ways to reduce the amount of CO2 released to the atmosphere: reduce emissions or capture and store existing CO2. Wood is unique in its capacity to achieve both.  Trees absorb CO2 and release O2. The average tree absorbs a metric ton of carbon dioxide per cubic meter of growth and produces 0.7 metric tons of oxygen in return. However, this only continues until the tree reaches maturity when it stops storing CO2. Dying trees, on the other hand, begin to release their previous stocks back into the atmosphere. The European Confederation of Woodworking Industries states that the sustainable management of forests and harvesting of old trees will allow stored carbon dioxide to be retained in the product. The wood-based panel industry also supports this cycle as it uses harvested wood as raw material. 

Water Management 

In our world where natural resources are rapidly depleting, we take all our steps with the responsibility of consuming these resources efficiently and consciously. We prioritize minimizing water consumption and the reuse of water in our manufacturing processes. In order to monitor our performance in this area, we regularly calculate our per unit water usage every year. We care about recycling wastewater to reduce the use of natural resources. The wastewater we recycle every year is equal to the water consumption of approximately 5,000 people. We continue our efforts to this end.

We treat and discharge the wastewater produced at our facilities in compliance with the relevant legislation. Our facilities are equipped with chemical and biological treatment systems, the performance of which are continuously monitored and tracked.

Energy Management 

In addition to using renewable raw materials in our manufacturing, we focus on increasing the share of renewable energy in our total consumption. We closely follow all innovations in this field and try to benefit from all opportunities. 

We aim to establish solar power plants in all our manufacturing facilities by 2030 in addition to the one already in operation in Adana. The biomass power plant in Gebze transforms the waste that is not suitable for manufacturing or recycling, into environmentally friendly electrical and thermal energy. We will replicate this initiative in our other locations. We will have completed 30 percent of these investments by the end of 2022 with a budget of $50 million. We aim to complete the remaining 70 percent within the following decade. As a result of these investments, we will be generating sufficient energy to power 260,000 households per year. 

Waste Management 

Our waste management system focuses on reducing waste at the source as well as sorting, collecting, storing, eliminating, and recycling as much as possible and supporting the circular economy. In the first stage, we aim to prevent waste generation. If waste generation cannot be avoided, we aim to minimize waste. This is followed by reusing waste, and if this is not possible, recycling and energy recovery. We eliminate any remaining waste that is inevitable and cannot be reused or recycled in compliance with the environmental legislation in a manner that presents no harm to human or environmental health. We organize training sessions on waste management for all our employees as part of our environmental management system.