“Cycle into goodness” was formed to recycle and reuse the textile products that are no longer usable for end users and to contribute them in economy through different methods. This was an opportunity allowing creation of social, economic, and ecological benefits all together. A project, which would make a call to the entire community including employees and customers in particular, and support responsible consumption by making the people inquire about how the textile products that were no longer usable by them could be recovered or contributed to economy, was created.
In this context, firstly, Lokman Hekim Health Foundation was determined as the project partner. Boyner established cooperation with the Foundation on recycling of paper wastes and then, this cooperation was expanded to cover also textile products.
Textile wastes were started to be collected in large collection boxes made from recyclable materials and put in all Boyner and YKM Stores. The issue about “how we recover and contribute in economy” was explained to customers and implemented as follows:
1- Re-Use: Incoming products are collected from the stores; and sent to the Foundation’s depot located in Gebze. Products are sorted out in this depot. The products that can be reused after cleaning is the first separated group and they are cleaned, repaired and delivered to those in need via the Foundation.
2- In addition, funds were derived from the sales through charity sales organized by the Foundation for the products in this group. The said sources were transferred to the Foundation’s scholarship fund. Students of health sciences that received education grants for a period of 1 year based on the incomes derived as such included 18 students in 2015, 22 students in 2017, and 11 students in 2017.
3- Upcycle : Based on the idea that incoming products may constitute raw material for other products, the usable wastes were sent as raw materials to Sarıyer Women Entrepreneurs Cooperative for use in the patch-type products produced in the cooperative.
4- Recycle : The other remaining textile products were sorted out as “organic/inorganic” and the accessories in textile products were sorted out as “metallic/plastic” and from the raw materials collected, those that are of “organic materials, metallic, plastic” were sent to recycling and the foundation derived income from such recycling; inorganic materials were converted into energy in the cement industry by recording the related emissions since there was no technology and investment that could recycle a product group of such size. “Cycle into Goodness” activities were awarded with “Green Point Industry Awards” by ÇEVKO, the institution specialized in its field and with “Efficiency Award” by TİSK in 2015 and 2016. Cycle into Goodness project was continued through the addition of Donate Goodness project appreciated and supported by the public and non-organizational organizations to this great goodness movement in 2016, in order to expand the impact created under the scope of the fight against poverty.
Through the project Cycle to Goodness:
• We have collected 171.5 tons of waste so far since the start of the project. 12.5 tons was collected in 2019.
• We have sorted all the collected waste, we have cleaned 24 tons of products, 1 ton of which was in 2019, and offered them for re-use.
• We have transformed them into 26.8 tons of thread, and metal and plastic accessories of approximately 1 ton has been transformed into raw materials.
• We have transformed 61.5 tons of second-hand clothes in total into energy, 4 tons of which was in 2019.
• Approximately 1-ton materials have been upcycle.
• Approximately 7.5 tons of incoming products in 2019 were sold through charity sales and a TRY 13,270 income was obtained.
With the obtained income, education scholarships were provided for five Medical Faculty Students that were continuing their education in economic deprivation, for one year.
Thus, 45 students in total were granted education scholarship since the date the project was launched.
