Sabancı Holding CEO Cenk Alper Attends Davos

Sabancı Holding CEO Cenk Alper Takes Part in Davos The Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), which brings together stakeholders from different sectors of the global economy each year in the Swiss town of Davos, was held this year under the theme "Cooperation in a Fragmented World." At the meetings attended by approximately 3,000 participants from the public sector, private sector, civil society and academia, global issues and solution proposals were discussed, while the importance of action-oriented global cooperation was underscored. Among the Turkish business representatives at Davos, Sabancı Holding CEO Cenk Alper participated as a speaker on the second day of the organization in a closed session discussing the future of sustainable mobility, while also speaking at the "Bringing Circular Practices to Life" panel, which was open to all visitors, about what needs to be done to accelerate circularity in business and operating models and the projects and initiatives implemented by Sabancı Group in this field.

"We Must Forget the Teachings of Linear Economy"

Cenk Alper noted that circular economy is vital for addressing major global crises such as climate emergency, biodiversity loss and social inequality, and stated: "The added value that the development of circular economy practices will bring to our world is not limited to the environment alone. Today we clearly see the negative effects of global energy and raw material crises. The increase in circular economy practices that go hand in hand with renewable energy acts as a very important shield against global crises. Moreover, in parallel with sustainable development goals, it provides new growth and employment areas for companies." Emphasizing that the teachings of linear economy must be forgotten in the new world order, Alper said: "Together, through circular economy practices, we must rethink how we can create more value. We must review our business processes, starting with our supply chains, accordingly. Today in the world, circularity is often perceived as synonymous with recycling. To change this, it is very important that we increase examples of circularity across all sectors." Adding that sustainability is a key element of Sabancı Group's Promise, Cenk Alper said: "We view sustainability not as a risk but as an opportunity to create value. It is very clear that continuing the current economic growth model is no longer possible in the world. Instead of 'take, use and dispose,' we see the adoption of a circular economy model based on 'reduce, reuse and recycle' into our mindset, ways of doing business and future strategies as a necessity for the future of our world and humanity. We position ourselves not only as followers of disruptive innovation processes, but also as developers. In line with our vision of a World Sabancı, we approach our global growth strategy with this perspective. Within this scope, we are directing 75 percent of our investments over the next 5 years to what we call the 'new economy' – energy and climate technologies, advanced materials technologies and digital technologies."

"We Are Leading a New Collaboration Culture"

Noting that they have implemented pioneering circular economy applications in many Group companies such as Kordsa, Brisa, Temsa and Teknosa, Cenk Alper continued: "Today, the path to serving sustainable living is to spread the impact of these practices across the entire ecosystem and to create a new collaboration culture. The adhesive technology called Cokoon, which Kordsa brought to life together with Continental, is one of the flagship projects of this culture. With our open innovation approach, we brought together our R&D teams with Continental, one of our global competitors in the tire business, and developed a much more innovative and much more environmentally friendly alternative to a formula that has been used for 100 years in this field. In Cokoon's patent pool, we are one of four companies today, together with Continental and two other business partners. Each of us puts our expertise into the pool, and we continuously develop our applications here. At the point we have reached today, approximately 70 companies in the sector are closely interested in this technology. We see that our joint efforts have created a new market standard for sustainability. This project is a perfect example of how the impact and value we create extends far beyond our own operations. As Sabancı Group, we are proud to be leading a collaboration culture that embraces inter-company cooperation for a higher purpose, brings a perspective focused on social benefit to competition, shares innovation for all stakeholders to use rather than keeping it to itself, and gives priority to 'ecosystem benefit' over 'company benefit.'"

"Design Processes Must Be Built on the Reality of 'Limited Resources'"

Adding that the barriers to circularity start in the mind, Cenk Alper said: "Acting on the belief that resources are unlimited and will never run out is actually the greatest harm we do to our world. When we look at it, we see that circular economy practices are increasing in countries and societies where resources are limited. Because in these countries, reusing materials, recycling them and giving them new purposes is more of a necessity than a choice. The greatest task that falls to the stakeholders of society here is to design all design processes in different areas according to the reality of 'limited resources' and to make circularity a standard way of doing business."