ÇEVKO Foundation, having contributed billions of Turkish Lira to the Turkish economy by promoting the recycling of millions of tons of packaging waste every year in collaboration with the industry, celebrated its 25th anniversary at a special night event.
Chairman of ÇEVKO Foundation, Mr Okyar Yayalar, General Manager of ÇEVKO Foundation, Mr Yaşar Nadir Atilla, and General Secretary, Mr Mete İmer and senior executives of the ÇEVKO Foundation along with our distinguished guests attended the event, which was held at the Caddebostan Cultural Center (CMK) on 14 November 2016.
The master of ceremonies at this special event was the celebrated news anchor Gülay Özdem and the guests indulged in nostalgia as they listened to the most popular songs from the last 25 years, specially arranged and performed by the “Cinema Symphony Orchestra” and lead singer Zuhal Olcay, under the lead of conductor Hakan Şensoy to celebrate the 25th anniversary of ÇEVKO .
Working relentlessly to achieve a sustainable recycling system for two and a half decades!
Mr Okyar Yayalar, Chairman of ÇEVKO Foundation, which has been working relentlessly for two and a half decades towards the goal of combating climate change that threatens our planet and raising awareness on recycling in the community in order to obtain environmental and economic benefits, presented a plaque as a token of our appreciation to Mr Fuat Kalyoncu, Cultural Director of the Kadıköy Municipality, which collaborated with our Foundation in multiple major projects.
At the 25th Anniversary event, highlights of some of the projects undertaken by ÇEVKO Foundation in the last quarter century were presented.
- ÇEVKO Foundation is not only involved in training camps and campaigns to promote environmental awareness and a recycling system (special plays for children, training the trainers, door-to-door briefing visits, events at shopping centers and outdoor events, public service movies, use of advertising signboards and Internet, social media posts, etc.), but also publishes periodicals and organizes national and international congresses and seminars to inform the public.
- ÇEVKO Foundation was assigned the status of an “Authorized Organization” by the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Urbanization in 2005 to assume the recovery requirements for packaging waste of packed good manufacturers and today, it represents and fulfills the recycling requirements for 49 companies in the industry.
- Our journey started 25 years ago as a collaborative recycling effort with a handful of municipalities in Istanbul and today, ÇEVKO has instilled the recycling awareness to over 23 million people in collaboration with 161 municipalities and thus, has become one of the highest-ranking NGOs in the eyes of the consumers with regard to public recognition and appreciation in the last two and a half decades.
- Since 2003, ÇEVKO Foundation has been a member of the Green Dot System and represents the international “Green Dot” brand in Turkey and of Pro-Europe, along with its affiliations with the ISWA since 2010 and EXPRA, of which it is a founding member since 2013. Our Foundation has leveraged its affiliations with these leading professional organizations to transfer good practices and experiences to our country and managed to translate its recycling efforts into unique environmental and economic benefits.
Environmental and economic benefits!
Since its recognition as an authorized organization in 2005, ÇEVKO Foundation has significantly contributed to energy savings and preservation of natural resources by recovering 4.7 million tons of packaging waste and played a role in providing the following environmental and economic benefits:
- Trees: 32.5 million trees; equivalent to 160866 acres of forest land,
- Water savings: 50.6 million m3; equivalent to the annual water consumption of 760 thousand individuals,
- Power savings: 20.4 billion kWh; equivalent to the annual power consumption of 7.4 Million households,
- Storage area: 27.7 million m3; enough to fill 11 thousand Olympic-sized swimming pools,
- Fossil fuel: 942.6 million liters; enough to fill 21 million vehicles.