SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production

ISO 14001 Environmental Management System Standard Certificate

Özyeğin University is the first university in Turkey to receive the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System Standard Certificate. It was established in 2012 and was registered by the internationally respected and recognized BSI (British Standards Institute) certification body in 2014. Özyeğin University periodically monitors the requirements of the standard, reports, and conducts in-house audits. It is also audited by BSI every year. Özyeğin University has accepted environmental sustainability as one of its primary criteria for existence, starting from its establishment and campus construction. In accordance with its published environmental policy, it conducts environmental dimension impact analysis and focuses on improvement activities to minimize natural resource consumption by taking the obtained outputs as reference. Energy management, waste management and carbon footprint reporting are carried out regularly. Corporate Water Footprint reporting was also carried out for the first time.

ISO 14001 Environmental Management System is a management system developed to systematically reduce and, where possible, eliminate the damage that institutions cause or may cause to the environment. In this context, the published Environmental Policy specifies the institutional policy and the Environmental Management Plan expresses practices, duties and concepts. The Campus Energy and Water Resources Usage Guide has been published and the environmental aspects to be considered are explained in detail.

LEED Gold Sertificates

In our buildings, which were built with the LEED approach determined according to the criteria set forth by the USGBC (United States Green Building Council), the design and construction of our campus buildings were carried out considering water saving and waste management. Wells were opened on the campus, plumbing systems were installed for rain harvesting and Grey Water use in the buildings, appropriate plants were selected and a landscape plan was implemented with drip irrigation systems. Materials were selected to minimize the impact on the environment and the resulting waste was directed to recycling. It was reported to the USGBC that sufficient infrastructure and other requirements were concretely realized for our three buildings and they were certified at the Gold level. Afterwards, the design and construction of the other additional buildings on the campus were carried out with the same approach according to the USGBC criteria.

Integrated Environmental Information System/Zero Waste Information System

Integrated Environmental Information System and Zero Waste Information System are software that monitors environmental processes by the ministry. Monthly waste amounts are entered into these systems. The amounts of recycling waste received by the licensed company that the municipality has an agreement with are also entered monthly through the Zero Waste Information System.

Özyeğin University became the first university to receive the Zero Waste Certificate as of 14.02.2020.

Industrial Waste Management Plan

Our Industrial Waste Management Plan was first approved by the Provincial Directorate of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change on 30.04.2014 and is prepared regularly every 3 years and submitted to the Provincial Directorate of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change.

Waste Management Policy

As stated in the policies and plans created within the scope of ISO 14001 Environmental Management System standard, in order to prevent environmental pollution at Özyeğin University, it is essential to minimize the amount of waste that may occur, to reuse and/or recycle the waste that occurs. In order to reduce waste at source, efficiency-enhancing applications will be preferred in the materials, systems and methods to be selected, and scrap and waste will be reduced as much as possible. In the applications to be made for the reduction, reuse, recycling and disposal of waste with the zero-waste approach, the relevant legal regulations will be complied with and technological developments will be followed and appropriate methods will be determined.

Hazardous wastes that may occur in new building construction activities, academic and administrative activities will be identified and collected, transported and disposed of using appropriate methods that will not harm human health or the environment. All wastes that will occur as a result of academic and administrative activities in all university facilities will be separated according to their classes and correct disposal will be ensured.

Students, subcontractors, businesses/tenants, subcontractors and all suppliers, visitors and academic and administrative staff will be informed about pollution reduction and waste management practices and will be ensured to effectively implement their duties and responsibilities in this regard.

Waste Management Plan

Hazardous Wastes

Contracts have been made with licensed companies for our hazardous wastes and their recycling and disposal are ensured by regularly reporting them through the Integrated Environmental Information System, and waste declarations are made through this system every year. Hazardous wastes are packaged appropriately, labeled with a hazardous waste label and sent to the Hazardous Waste Temporary Storage Area.

Medical Waste Acceptance Certificate

The necessary applications for the Medical Waste Acceptance Certificate are made regularly every year and our certificate is issued by the IMM Waste Management Directorate.

Sending waste papers for destruction within the scope of information security

An agreement has been made with TEMA Foundation for the destruction of waste papers within the scope of information security and the income obtained is donated to TEMA Foundation.

Organic Waste / Composting

Garden and park waste is collected, composted by a contracted company and evaluated on campus. In the gastronomy department, vegetable and fruit peels from the cafeteria are evaluated as food again. Organic waste from the cafeteria is also evaluated for animal feed and compost production. In this context, our cafeteria company has joined the Responsible Restaurant Movement.

The Responsible Restaurant Movement is a project that was launched to ensure that all businesses providing food and beverage services carry out the entire service flow from energy use to waste management, from water use to supply, preparation and service processes with a responsible approach, and operate with a focus on sustainability by creating a conscious behavioral change in production and consumption.

Environment Life Cycle

Life cycle analysis is the compilation and evaluation of the inputs, outputs and potential environmental impacts of a product system throughout its life cycle.

Waste Collection Bins and Locations

Amounts of Waste Generated