SUSTAINABILITY

As Turkey’s leading producer of organic and biological fertilizers and plant protection products, we place sustainability at the heart of our operations, as the nature of our business commands. We prioritize the protection of the human and natural health in our business model, beneficial environmentally and socially, since we are aware that human health is dependent on a healthy nature. Our innovative and productive solutions protect human and nature health while supporting agriculture and farmers. .All of these are inspired by the nature with our sustainability purpose “Future is in the Nature”.In order to fulfill this purpose, we develop solutions that create value and respond to the global trends which have a direct impact on agriculture. In this context, we focus on two strategic areas: protecting the human health and the nature.We depend on the support of multi-stakeholder initiatives and collaborations, customer satisfaction, occupational health and safety and employee development areas to achieve our sustainability purpose.

Highlights of the Global Agenda
Global trends have ever increasing effects on the private sector. The trends that influence the organic and biological fertilizer and crop protection products sector are reflected in the changing consumer behaviors, population growth and food safety, limited natural resources, climate change, technology and digitalization.

Changing consumer behaviors
In recent years, consumers have become more conscious on healthy living, which directly creates and increases the demand for organic biological agricultural products. Aware of the harms of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, this conscious community demands higher quality food and food safety standards. . The number of companies in this sector is expected to increase rapidly due to higher demand. Inevitably, companies, which can respond to the expectations and demands of customers and establish stronger relations, will be one step ahead.

Population growth and food safety
The United Nations estimates that the world population will reach 9.7 billion by 2050. In the future, it does not seem possible to meet the food demand through using only synthetic fertilizers; as the use of organic fertilizers will be vital in reducing the negative effects on the environment. Synthetic fertilizers can cause water pollution, increase soil salinity, acidity and chemical accumulation in the soil and lead to the loss of fertile agricultural land. Increasing the use of organic and biological fertilizers, soil conditioners and plant protection products and using them in the right formula conformable with synthetic fertilizers is important for re-establishing the natural balance and ensuring crop quality and safety.

Limited natural resources
Human activities and especially increasing demand for food and feed for the growing human population puts pressure on limited natural resources. The rapid depletion of resources results in soil degeneration and reduced soil fertility in various parts of the world.

The fact that organic agriculture focuses on natural inputs and rejects agrochemicals contributes to the conservation of limited and rapidly depleting natural resources, and at the same time, it prevents the loss of agricultural land with high fertility. The use of biological products ensures that the carbon, nitrogen, organic matter and other elements that plants need are preserved in the soil even after the production, so it enables agricultural activities to be cyclical.

Climate change
Human activities lead the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to increase steadily every year. With the inclusion of livestock farming, the entire agricultural sector is responsible for 21% of the global greenhouse gas emissions. The agricultural sector is also at the forefront in emissions of methane and nitrogen oxide, two greenhouse gases.

Organic fertilizers play an important role in the protection of soil health and prevention of air pollution. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) data, 1.6% of each nitrogen application is released into the air as nitrogen oxide and its variants. Production of nitrogen fertilizers is accountable for 1% of the global fossil energy use. In addition to its production, their distribution and application corresponds to 2.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The use of organic and biological fertilizers over synthetic fertilizers provides 13% overall improvement in areas such as methane (CH4) and nitrogen oxide (N2O) emissions, agrochemical input, agricultural operations and carbon dioxide retention. Increased use of organic and biological fertilizers in the future leads to increased rates of greenhouse gases retention from the atmosphere.

Technology and digitalization
Many components of organic fertilizers are produced from the by-products of plant and animal waste. Biological products are produced by isolating and multiplying the bacteria that are found to be beneficial for the development and protection of the plant. Many great opportunities for biotechnology lie in the organic and biological products sector. The use of biological products such as beneficial bacteria as input during production and the value created by such product highlights the innovation of this sector.

Changing diets towards a more organic one in developed countries creates a demand on the organic food sector, thus the use of organic and biological fertilizers and products as such. In order to meet the current and future demand, the organic and biological products market should invest more in research and development on crop yield and quantity.

In the coming years, especially with the trends shifting towards a circular economy, it is estimated that the raw material needs of organic and biological fertilizers and crop protection products will need to be diversified. R&D investments are expected to grow in order to find inexpensive and diverse range of raw materials that can be used to develop innovative products.

Contribution to the Global Agenda
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer a global agenda for a wide scope of audience ranging from the public sector to the business world. Achieving the SDGs has the potential to provide approximately 12 trillion US dollars in market opportunities for the private sector. Organic and biological fertilizers and plant protection products sector makes direct and indirect contributions to the SDGs.

By our “Future is in the Nature” program, we contribute to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals: Zero Hunger (2), Good Health and Well-being (3), Clean Water and Sanitation (6), Industry,

Innovation and Infrastructure (9), Responsible Consumption and Production (12), Climate Action (13), Life Below Water (14), Life on Land (15) and Partnerships for the Goals (17).

Future is in the Nature – Strategic Areas
For a sustainable future, we first focus on the future of the nature. Securing the future of the nature is at the heart of our business. Our sustainability purpose “Future is in the Nature” has two strategic areas: protecting human health and protecting nature’s health.

We Protect Human Health
In order to protect human health, we focus on areas of R&D and innovation, product quality and safety and more productive crops.

• R&D and Innovation: Our R&D studies result in products that protect and improve the health of the overall ecosystem. Approximately 40% of Supersol’s turnover is allocated to R&D. With the help of our innovative products, we prevent chemical and heavy metal pollutions that cause serious health problems for consumers and result in environmental degradation.
• Product Quality and Safety: Our products have national and international licenses, registrations and certificates for quality and safety; ISO 9001 Product Quality Management System Certificate and Ecocert Organic Agriculture Certificate, to name a few. Our products increase persistence of plants while improving root health, and ensuring safety and quality.
• More Productive Crops: Farmers testify that Supersol organic and biological products not only ensure harvesting better yield, but also protect and improve the soil and help farmers to provide healthy products to end consumers. Our studies have demonstrated that use of organic and microbial fertilizers lead to a decrease in chemical fertilization while increasing crop yield. Organically grown crops enable maximum absorption of all beneficial nutrients by the consumer.

We Protect the Nature

Within the context of protection of the nature, we focus on biodiversity and land use, climate change and water management.

• Biodiversity and Land Use: Applying Supersol organic and biological products leads to direct and indirect impacts on biodiversity and land use. Supporting the plant root health, our products improve plant resistance to pests, reduce the use of herbicides and pesticides, remove salinity in the soil, lower the issue of chemical residue in agricultural products, and prevent water pollution. Supersol products prevent adverse effects on bees and other pollen carriers, influence the entire food chain, and ensure the protection of biodiversity by supporting the development of a healthy habitat.Climate Change: Supersol products also contribute to the fight against climate change. Our products increase the resistance of the top layer of the soil to erosion by enhancing root growth and supporting microbial life. So, they prevent the loss of organic matter and carbon in the soil, increase the longevity in the soil, enhance plant growth and nitrogen intake from the atmosphere, therefore creating a significant positive impact. Furthermore, organic and biological products emit 78% less nitrogen and 41% less phosphorus in the production stage as compared to synthetic fertilizers.Water Management: Water retention capacity increases with the use of organic and biological fertilizers. Thus, while increasing the growth rate and water use efficiency of the plant, it also benefits the farmers with reduced irrigation and increased productivity. Our products offer the same productivity with about 40% less water.

Future is in the Nature – Supporters

In realization of our sustainability purpose, multi-stakeholder initiatives and collaborations, customer satisfaction, occupational health and safety and employee development play an important role as supporters.

Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives and Collaborations:
We collaborate with universities in the production stages of organic and biological products. We support scientific research on a variety of areas including the effects of organic agriculture on crop productivity, and prevention of adverse effects on nature compared to conventional agriculture. We conduct joint studies with universities in areas such as R&D, education and biological control. In addition to supplying products, we also provide agricultural consultancy services as a solution partner to our customers.

Customer Satisfaction:
We promote the development of our customers, namely, farmers and contribute to the socioeconomic development in our operational areas. 60% of our sales consist of our corporate customers and the rest are direct sales to dealers and farmers.

Occupational Health and Safety:
We take precautions to ensure the safety of all our employees in the work environment and make sure that production is safe and accident-free. We protect our employees and follow all legal processes and regulations up to the international OHS standard, OHSAS 18001.

Employee Development:
Supporting professional and personal development of our employees plays a major role in achieving the goals of our company. We invest in talent development of all our employees in this direction. We offer training and research opportunities especially to R&D staff for developing products with high added value. We also provide training on the latest trends in the organic and biological fertilizers sector for our sales and marketing force.

From the list of Global SDGs which may be applicable to the SUPERSOL expansion;
With the combination of the study and the production processes and outcome of SUPERSOL, from the list of Global SDGs SUPERSOL believes to have influence on the following items;
– No Poverty (1): We help boost rural incomes beset by threats to agricultural productivity
– Zero Hunger (2): We help increase agricultural productivity and reduce perishability during storage.
– Good Health and Well-being (3): We enhance the nutritional value of food and lower pesticide residues.
– Gender Equality (5): We have non-discriminatory employment policies, large female participation in management, and provide equal pay for equal work.
– Clean Water and Sanitation (6): Our products are organic, reduce pollution, and eliminate the dumping and release of chemical fertilizers
– Decent Work & Economic Growth (8): We directly contribute to agricultural productivity, and the health and wellness of agricultural workers.
– Reduced inequalities (10): By increasing agricultural productivity, we boost the wealth of rural growing regions plagued by population loss and weakening economies
– Responsible Consumption and Production (12): Our products allow for a reduced agricultural carbon footprint and less waste during storage.
– Climate action (13): Our biological and organic fertilizers result in lower emission of greenhouse gases.
– Life below water (14): Unlike chemical products used in farming which contaminate water resources, our products cause no such damage.
– Life on Land (15): Our products do not affect biodiversity and support global food and water security.