Closely following the events that have become extremely important in our lives such as the Climate Crisis, Sustainability, and the Paris Agreement. EGİAD The Aegean Young Businessmen Association has rolled up its sleeves to raise awareness about the circular economy and accelerate the transition to this new era. The NGO, which has signed various organizations to help the business world move away from traditional, low-impact methods and experience new ways of doing business, is the latest in the Circular Economy, which is gradually coming into play especially in European Union member countries. EGİAD took action to make it applicable to member businesses as well. Initiating work by organizing a meeting on the subject EGİAD's guest was Gülcan Ergün, the founding partner of D Cube, a Scientific R&D and Social Development Cooperative that aims to raise awareness, increase capacity, design solutions and develop policies in the circular economy model.
Increasing consumption of mass production resources with industrialization causes an increase in waste. The fact that the increasing environmental pollution has reached a level that will adversely affect human health and the welfare of future generations ensures that various solutions are sought in the international community. It shows that the desired results cannot be achieved in the linear economy, which is the current economic approach, with the prominence of the concept of sustainable development. For this reason, alternative approaches to the linear economy operating in the form of buy-build-dispose are being developed. The circular economy emerges as a result of these efforts. The circular economy draws attention as a system in which the principles of recycling, reuse and reduction are accepted in order to achieve sustainable development goals.
Delivering the opening speech of the meeting held on the subject EGİAD Alp Avni Yelkenbiçer, Chairman of the Board of the Aegean Young Businessmen Association; He drew attention to the importance of DCube studies, stating that it aims to ensure that efficient and sustainable development policies are spread all over the world, especially in Turkey, as a result of the implementation of the "Circular Economy Model", especially in agriculture, food, energy, textile and water.
The limited resources of our world are decreasing rapidly.
EGİAD Yelkenbiçer reminded that they frequently mentioned the titles of Sustainability, Circular Economy and Climate Change in this period, and gave the message that they will continue to focus on these concepts, which are actually intertwined and are both the cause and the result of each other. Yelkenbiçer reminded that they always keep the Paris Climate Agreement on the agenda, both in print and in visual media, and said: The limited resources of our world are decreasing rapidly and the inevitable consequences of climate change are strikingly visible. Due to the increasing environmental pollution and climate crisis, countries have started to seek various solutions. The circular economy, which is a sustainable production model in which every waste generated in the production system is re-evaluated, thus minimizing the raw material cost and keeping the resource efficiency at the highest level, is one of these solutions. Many countries are developing policies related to circular economy. It is clear that we, as a country, need to work hard on this issue. In this sense, the Paris agreement is actually just the beginning, it would be appropriate to say that our real work begins now.”
EGİAD Angels Invest in Surplus Food, in a Circular Economy
Reminding that there are many activities to contribute to the Circular Economy, from large industrial establishments to start-ups, and from personal precautions in our daily lives, Yelkenbiçer said that it is an investor. EGİAD He also emphasized that Melekleri has made an investment that contributes to the circular economy. EGİAD He stated that the Excess Food initiative, which is one of the investments of Melekleri, creates technology-based solutions to reduce the waste in the food supply chain by 2030% by 50. Yelkenbiçer stated that Surplus Food was selected as one of the 2030 impact-oriented initiatives from the world in the Accelerate 9 Acceleration Program supported by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), adding, “The technology infrastructure it provides in the fight against food waste and hunger effectively not only in Turkey but also in the world. with solutions. Surplus Food provides the most accurate financial, environmental and social evaluation of surplus food that cannot be sold and therefore becomes inactive. Companies enter the excess food that they cannot sell into the system together with various criteria such as expiry date, quality blockage error, location, and thanks to the digital infrastructure, these products are sold, donated or recycled through the right channel in the fastest way possible. In fact, it is possible to prevent waste and contribute to the economy with a cyclical perspective with some very simple and basic steps. The important thing is that we, as the business world, have this point of view; internalizing philosophy and taking action accordingly. I hope to be able to leave a more livable world to the next generation.”
We've exhausted this year's resources
Gülcan Ergün, the founding partner of D Cube, conveyed the functioning of the Linear Economy and the requirements of the Circular Economy. Explaining the changes in the Zero Waste regulation, Ergün stated that the linear economy continued as an economic model in the process from the Industrial Revolution to the present. Stating that only 93 percent of the annual use of 10 billion tons of materials in the world can be reused, Gülcan Ergün said, “The cost of resource extraction has increased more than 20 times in the last 3 years. As of July 29, we have finished the resources that the world has given us this year. We started to use next year's resources. We are facing an unacceptable situation in any economic model or business. The world population is expected to increase by 2050 percent in 28 compared to the current situation and reach 9.7 billion. The per capita resource consumption of the world population is projected to increase by 71 percent. If necessary measures are not taken for the effective use of resources, the demand for metals, biomass, minerals and similar limited resources will reach 2014 billion tons in 50 from 2050 billion tons per year in 130. In this respect, the formula for Sustainable Development is Circular Economy”.
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