Environmental Inspectors Visit Eti Bakır

Environment Inspectors Programme from Eti Bakır Placing humans and a sustainable future at the centre of production, Eti Bakır is providing environmental awareness and education training to young people through its "Environment Inspectors" programme. Within the scope of the training, 1,500 students in 45 schools in Mardin, Mazıdağı learned about the environment and sustainability. Eti Bakır, a group company of Cengiz Holding, one of Turkey's largest industrial establishments, continues its training initiatives to raise awareness among children and young people on environmental matters for a sustainable future, in addition to the contributions it makes to the sector and the country's economy. The company aims to increase environmental awareness and consciousness among students through an education project called the "Environment Inspectors" programme. Within the scope of the project, Eti Bakır provides training in 45 schools and reached 1,500 students in Mazıdağı, where the Metal Recovery and Integrated Fertilizer Facility is located. As part of the training, which includes topics such as environmental sensitivity, energy efficiency, recycling and waste management, a "Waste Battery Collection" campaign was also launched.

'Our Sustainability Vision Is Not Limited to Production'

Emre Kayışoğlu, General Manager of Eti Bakır Mazıdağı Metal Recovery and Integrated Fertilizer Facility, explaining that they have implemented one of the best examples of circular economy in Mardin and recovered cobalt, nickel, zinc and copper from pyrite concentrate, said: "Our sustainability vision is not limited to our production activities alone. We not only have the world's most advanced technology in our sector and conduct environmentally-friendly production here; at the same time, we aim to create this awareness among young people to whom we have entrusted our future for a better world." Kayışoğlu, recalling that work is underway at Eti Bakır Mazıdağı for the recovery of rare elements and minerals from pyrite concentrate as well as battery dust, continued: "We are now recovering cobalt, which is equivalent to 2 percent of world production, by extracting it from the product in Mardin and returning it to the economy. Cobalt is today one of the most strategic raw materials in the global economy; it is used in dozens of different fields from technology to defence, from automotive to power plants. Our focus now is on recycling metals from battery dust. By involving our young people in the sustainability process, we wanted them to understand the importance of circular economy that will mark our future. The Environment Inspectors programme is, in this context, not just a corporate social responsibility project for us; it is also a fine example of cooperation between industry and formal education…"

Earthquake Training Provided

Providing information on the project, Kayışoğlu stated that the training will continue in the coming years, continuing his remarks as follows: "Within the scope of the project, in addition to environmental training, we launched a waste battery collection campaign supported by collection boxes from the Portable Battery Manufacturers Association (TAPDER) and collected more than 25 kilograms of batteries. In addition, our Occupational Health and Safety teams also provided earthquake training. 225 Environment Inspectors selected from among the students will be responsible for the operation of their classes after our training. We will continue their training by inviting these inspectors to our environmental activities from time to time and showing them the practical implementation in real life."