Water and Carbon Footprint
DeFacto CEO İhsan Ateş: ‘We are reducing our water and carbon footprint.
Despite the increasing number of stores and production, DeFacto continues to reduce its resource usage and shares its progress with the public. Announcing the release of the 2020 Sustainability Report, CEO İhsan Ateş stated, ‘We are reducing our water and carbon footprint. Over the past five years, we achieved a 37% reduction in energy consumption. Through the projects implemented last year, we managed to decrease our water footprint by 26% in just one year.’
DeFacto has published its 4th Sustainability Report. In 2020, a year dominated by the pandemic, the company recorded growth in its e-commerce volume and, with the acceleration of its digitalization processes, further enhanced its contribution to sustainability.
Focusing on creating value for the future with goals such as sustainable collections, recycling initiatives, and reducing water and energy intensity, DeFacto CEO İhsan Ateş emphasized, ‘While growing under the guidance of our passion for retail, we will continue to consider the needs of future generations. We aim to enhance our contribution to sustainability through digitalization, equal opportunities, and environmental projects.’
Highlighting that sustainability has been a core concept of DeFacto’s founding philosophy, CEO İhsan Ateş stated, ‘Recent challenges, natural disasters, and the ongoing global pandemic have demonstrated the critical importance of sustainability to all sectors. As a company, we embody sustainability in our DNA and corporate culture, using it as our guiding principle. We grow with investments, production, human resources, social responsibility projects, and a respectful stance toward the ecosystem. We are one of the first two companies in our industry to sign the UN Global Compact. By publishing our fourth sustainability report, we continue to maintain our leadership position in this field.’
Noting the positive impact of the global increase in digitalization processes on sustainability during the pandemic, CEO Ateş said, ‘Digital transformation offers opportunities not only for improving business processes but also for using technology as a tool for human life and the future of the world. Especially through cost and time-saving digital applications, the digitalization of the supply chain, and developing the necessary technology within our company through DeFacto Technology, we have strengthened our digital transformation and agile structure. We are very close to completing this transformation.’
Emphasizing the importance of environmental sustainability as one of their core sustainability perspectives in 2020, Ateş added, ‘Despite the increase in our number of stores, we successfully reduced energy intensity in stores through efficiency measures. Over the past five years, we achieved a 37% reduction in electricity consumption. In our physical laboratory, we processed a total of 10.5 tons of recycled textile waste and ensured the safe treatment of 42 tons of wastewater.’
Conveying their water reduction goals for ensuring the sustainability of global water resources, Ateş stated, ‘Water usage is of critical importance for our industry. In 2019, we saved 9,700 tons of water for 1,220,000 sustainable products. In the following year, we raised our target and achieved an additional 26% water savings in just one year.’
DeFacto employs over 15,000 people. In 2020, the company’s female employee ratio was 57% in DeFacto Turkey and 54% in its international operations. The proportion of women in middle and senior management positions domestically and internationally increased by seven points, reaching 33% in 2020.
Stating that DeFacto is a gender-neutral company, Ateş said, ‘Our company has zero tolerance for any form of discrimination. In line with our aim to strengthen women’s presence in the workforce, we apply positive discrimination for our female employees. Gender equality is our compass. We are a signatory of the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles, and through our employment policies, HR practices, communication tone, campaigns, and projects, we raise awareness and contribute to society in this area.