Muhammet Saraç, General Manager of İZAYDAŞ

Mr. Muhammet Saraç, General Manager of İZAYDAŞ, answered our questions about activities and projects of İZAYDAŞ.

Could you please tell our readers about yourself, your education and professional background in the market?

I was born in Şavşat/Artvin, on 12 January 1966. I completed my primary education at Ziya Gökalp Primary School, in İzmit. And I studied at İzmit İmam-Hatip (Religious Vocational) High School, before my undergraduate studies at Engineering Faculty of Yıldız Technical University, which I graduated in 1988 as an electrical engineer. In 1990, I started to work at Goodyear Tire Factory in Adapazarı as an electrical project engineer. I furthered my career at the same company for about 16 years as an energy coordinator, energy center supervisor and engineering development specialist, respectively. Between 2005 and 2009, I worked as the deputy general director of İZGAZ and supervised administrative and financial affairs of the company. In 2008, I actively became involved in the legal privatization process of İZGAZ. Throughout my career, I have participated in a wide range of courses, seminars, trainings, education programs and conferences both in my country and abroad which were performed either in English or Turkish and received certificates and licenses. Meanwhile, I completed an associate degree in Economics and then a Master's degree in Business Administration at the Institute of Social Sciences in Sakarya University. I am currently a PhD candidate at Kocaeli University. As of 05 May 2009, I am a member of İZAYDAŞ family as its Chief Executive. Also, I have a good command of English and Arabic. I am a father of two girls, three children in total.

Could you tell us about İZAYDAŞ's main activities and facilities, as Turkey's first waste disposal facility?

Besides the opportunities offered to human life by advancing technology, the scale of technology-related environmental pollution is rapidly increasing every day. Accordingly, an increase in technology-based industrialization is inevitable considering the needs of a rising human population. However, this increase in industrialization results in rapid exhaustion of natural resources and the generation of numerous wastes in the environment. Our company was founded by the Metropolitan Municipality in 1996. The purpose of this foundation was to perform disposal of domestic and industrial wastes in accordance with the Environment Law. Within this framework, İZAYDAŞ started to carry out waste disposal activities as Turkey's first waste disposal facility, while simultaneously generating electric power and converting wastes into valuable resources. As an affiliate of Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality, İZAYDAŞ fulfills all necessary obligations and requirements without any compromise. We are also certified in terms of compliance with ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, ISO 10002, ISO 17025, ISO 17043, ISO 50001 and ISO 27001 standards.

Facilities within our company include;

Clinical and Hazardous Waste Incineration and Energy Generation Facility, Sanitary Landfills, Waste Transport Services, LFG, Electric power generation facility using methane gas, Waste Interim Storage Facility, İZAYDAŞ Laboratory, Waste Receiver Vessels, Water Surface Sweepers and Maritime Patrol Aircraft, Clinical Waste Sterilization Facility, Landfill Leachate Treatment and Recycling Facility, Integrated Biogas Power Generation Facility, Yuvacık Dam channel type Hydroelectric Power Plant (HES) project.

Could you give information about İZAYDAŞ's mission and vision?

Our vision is to be a self-improving, environment and industry-friendly, customer-oriented company and to be a leader for other waste utilization companies within the industry by combining our experience and technology. On the other hand, our mission is to produce effective practices and solutions in waste utilization and disposal for a sustainable environment and a healthy society, and to contribute to environmental awareness.

Could you give information about your new objectives and projects?

We have numerous ongoing projects. The first one is the Domestic Waste Incineration and Power Generation Project. Within the scope of this project, a facility with a capacity of two gross tons per hour is planned under the guidance of Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality. For now, we store domestic wastes of Kocaeli in our current facilities where we also perform disposal activities. Physically, we have limited space and it will eventually not suffice for further storage. Currently, our capacity can only suffice for the next 3–4 years. We have to prepare for the next step. Again, with the guidance of the Metropolitan Municipality, we are working on a facility project that will be used for domestic and industrial waste incineration and power generation. This investment will provide us 2 tons of hourly storage capacity with around 40–45 MW installed power and is expected to produce approximately 300 million kWh of energy every year. The other ongoing projects include building of a Vessel Waste Receiving Facility, preparation for the Maritime Emergency Action Competence Certificate, performance of waste handling RDF/Pre-Treatment activities, ERP (Phase II), completion of Software Infrastructure Integration, recycling activities, creation of an LFG greenhouse facility, greening of used landfills, preparation for ISO 14064 Greenhouse Gas Management System Certificate and installation of the CRM system.

Could you tell us about your laboratory and R&D operations?

İZAYDAŞ Laboratory is a proficiency testing provider and the only laboratory in its field in Turkey accredited with ISO 17043 certification. We provide proficiency testing services for laboratories in a number of fields, particularly for environmental laboratories. Thanks to the steps we have taken in proficiency testing and production of reference materials, these services will no longer be imported but performed in Turkey. Before İZAYDAŞ's activities, laboratories used to outsource their testing needs. But recently they are gradually beginning to obtain these services from our company. We have created a vision for the future of laboratories. Currently we can analyze approximately 300 parameters in our facilities. We have the necessary ministerial competence certificates and TÜRKAK accreditation for these parameters. Besides procedure analyses in our laboratories, we continuously broaden and scale up our services for the relevant market. As for R&D projects; I would like to express that we work in cooperation with a number of universities and institutions, primarily with the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) and Kocaeli University. On the other hand, we have improved current processes in our facility and created alternative backup systems. Accordingly, we have created a pulverized carbon injection system. We performed a trial on fly ash and it was successful. And now we are working on patenting.

Anything you want to add…

As İZAYDAŞ Laboratory, we will be present at ChemLab Eurasia, which is a fair within the scope of TURKCHEM 2018 International Chemistry Industry Group Exhibition to be held on 8–10 November at Istanbul Expo Center. We are looking forward to creating a fruitful event for TURKCHEM 2018's new participants and visitors. I would like to wish success to those who contributed to this organization where sectoral advances will be introduced and discussed.