Sustainability Governance

We develop Sustainability as a Business Model to leave a better world for future generations, and as a global organization, we integrate our sustainability approach into our business throughout the entire value chain. With our effective internal sustainability structure, we ensure that policies in this area are extended from the management level to all employees throughout the organization and in the value chain.

The Sustainability Council, chaired by CFO, is established to determine corporate sustainability and climate change policies and strategies, ensures their integration with corporate business processes and tracks sustainability performance. Sustainability Council management consists of Arçelik executive management members. The Sustainability Council acts as the managing body for  the cross functional Sustainability Working Groups and sets the strategy based on the reportings of the Sustainability Working Groups.

In order to ensure that sustainability is integrated at the highest level in our company strategies, Koç Holding Consumer Durables President, one of the members of the Board of Directors, and the Quality, Sustainability & Corporate Affairs Directorate, reports to the Board of Directors the activities carried out in the field of sustainability quarterly and ensures the development of sustainability strategies.

Sustainability Directorate, which is lead by the Quality, Sustainability and Corporate Affairs Directorate, works to reinforce the expansion of the sustainability strategy to all business units in the company as a business model. The duties of the department include determining the long-term sustainability strategy of the company, representing the company in local and international organizations, carrying out projects with units within the company, and ensuring the continuity of success in sustainability indices.

Corporate Brand and Projects Management, which is under the umbrella of Global Communication Directorate, Strategic Communication Group Management, coordinates sustainability communication, which is the main focus of our strategic communication as Arçelik. Among the responsibilities of management;

Preparation of annual and sustainability reports, delivery and communication to internal and external stakeholders;

Establishing a sustainability communication strategy and communicating the carried out projects, projects and sustainable products to internal and external communication under this roof;

It includes planning and managing corporate social responsibility projects for priority areas.

Strategic Communication Group Management determines the main strategy of sustainability communication in line with its sustainability priorities and goals, ensuring that all projects are carried out under this strategy, exhibited in international platforms and communicated in the countries where we operate. It is our priority as Arçelik to share the sustainability efforts and messages with the highest level of representation at the CEO level in all communication channels, and to transmit them in a transparent manner.

Environmental Coordination Working Group

Under the leadership of the Environment Management Department, four Environmental Coordination Working Group meetings were held in 2021 with the environment responsibles of the plants.   The Environment WG evaluates environmental legislation, targets and improvement studies, compliance with ISO 14001 and ISO 14064-1 Management Systems, and the roadmap for the environmental strategy.

Energy Coordination Working Group

The working group aims at:

• Increasing the efficiency of the Energy Management System

• Providing coordination between businesses

• Sharing new technologies related to energy efficiency

• Evaluating the developments in the energy markets

• Discussing national and international legislative amendments related to energy and energy efficiency

• Evaluating incentive mechanisms for energy efficiency

• Rolling out the best practices through the global production facilities

• Providing an effective flow of information about developments in the energy sector and important decisions regarding energy and energy efficiency. In 2021 several issues are evaluated in Energy WG including compliance with legal regulations on energy, ISO 50001 Energy Management System, energy efficiency incentive mechanisms, new technology ideas and applications, and energy efficiency best practices implemented in our plants.

Green Chemistry Coordination Working Group

The group evaluates the regulations regarding the production of the chemicals used in manufacturing plants, and their risks and opportunities regarding compliance to regulations. By continuing to integrate sustainability into our business models and strategy, we create a competitive advantage in the long run, differentiate from our competitors with our sustainable business practices, and create a brand perception that values ​​sustainability among consumers and employees.

Sustainable Supply Chain Working Group

The group evaluates sustainability index levels for suppliers during previous periods, their participation status on the index, business ethics auditing plans and results, follow-up actions shared by risky suppliers, and sustainability training.  

Occupational Health and Safety Working Group

Occupational safety specialists and workplace doctors at the headquarters and businesses are involved in sustainability studies within the scope of Occupational Health and Safety. The duties and responsibilities of the relevant teams within the scope of sustainability studies are as follows:

Central Occupational Safety Team;

• Collects and consolidates data from production plants regarding sustainability

• Carries out necessary projects for the establishment of general sustainability standards

• Compares previous years’ accident data and making future projections

• Disseminates centralized works to production plants

• Provides data to the Sustainability Team

Occupational Safety Specialists at Production Plants;

• Prepare the related content to be included in the Sustainability Report and share with the central team

• Prepare and implement projects that will contribute to sustainability processe

Central Health Team;

• Consolidates and shares data from the production plants and of the occupational health projects carried out centrally with the central occupational safety team

• Examines cases of occupational diseases detected in businesses, determines their causes and reports as sustainability data

Business Workplace Physicians;

• Prepare and share occupational health-related content for the Sustainability Report with the central team

Human Rights Committee Working Group

Arçelik has established a Human Rights division under the umbrella of Human Resources in accordance with its Human Rights Policy and Human Rights Due Diligence Procedure. The division is in charge of performing regular audits within the company -human rights audits across all Arçelik businesses in particular, creating risk maps, ensuring improvements in due diligence activities, and reporting the types of observations as identified in due diligence procedures in the sustainability report and in other public sources. The division convenes the Human Rights Committee four times a year. The Human Rights Committee is chaired by the  Chief People Officer and attended by the Occupational Health and Safety, Sustainability, Quality Systems, Procurement, Ethics and Compliance, Environment, and Human Resources teams, in addition to the company's CPO acting as the Secretary General.