Sustainability
It is quite important for food and beverage companies to ensure sustainability of their supply chains in terms of their long-term existence. TGDF conducts activities to support sustainable practices to protect and promote natural resources. It also aims to maintain and strengthen the R&D activities of industry on the environment, become efficient in the development of significant environmental policies such as sustainable production and consumption, energy, climate changes, water, waste and resource management, encourage efficient use of resources in all phases of food change such as agriculture, production, retail and consumption, monitor the developments related to Bio-safety Law and relevant regulations, contribute to legislation preparation works, and maintain communication with national and international stakeholders in business, science and civil society areas.
Stopping climate change
The industry, which implements the continuous reduction approach towards greenhouse gas emission, supports the 2020 Targets of the European Union.
Increasing energy efficiency
Energy efficiency is also important for transition to low carbon economy. The industry, which seeks for the ways to do more business by using less sources, encourages, for example, high energy-efficient technologies such as cogeneration (cogeneration of heat and electrical energy) and combined heat and power (CHP) etc. Cogeneration is part of the long-term operating model for many food producers. TGDF encourages the use of this technology in all possible areas and follows up the best practices. Paris Agreement is one of the most important initiatives that will take place in 2020. Necessary activities are conducted to ensure integration with the industry within the scope of the ‘‘Capacity Development Project on Monitoring, Reporting and Verification of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Turkey under the German International Climate Initiative’’ which is applied by the German International Cooperation Organization (GIZ) and executed in collaboration of the Federal Republic of Germany Ministry of Environment, Nature Protection, Construction and Nuclear Safety and the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning. TGDF closely follows up this project, which is a preparatory work for the Paris Agreement that will come into force in 2020.
Waste management and prevention of waste
Food and Beverage Industry currently uses some practices to reduce amount of waste. The industry aims to use 100% agricultural raw materials and for instance, it uses non-essential parts to generate renewable energy or animal feed. The industry also seeks for the ways to promote reduction of household waste by providing consumers with information about how to interpret the data ‘recommended to be consumed before..’ and ‘expiry date’’. If the food is wasted at the end of the chain, all source investments made to the lifecycle of the product are lost. The industry generally aims to minimize waste in all phases of food chain.
Protecting biological diversity
Food and Beverage Industry agrees that biological diversity should be protected and increased when and if necessary. It is quite important that the raw materials used are grown in natural environment and it is ensured that the agricultural practices are sustainable. TGDF aims to promote the best practices in Turkey.
Working together
The Environmental and Agricultural Commission of the TGDF operates in line with the science-based, single-type impact assessment methodologies to provide reliable and proper information to consumers in relation with the environmental impacts of products. Currently, various methods are used to assess different environmental factors (for example carbon footprint of a product).