Aksa Akrilik Surpasses Resource Efficiency Targets

Aksa Akrilik has published its 2025 TSRS-Compliant Sustainability Report (compliant with Turkish Sustainability Reporting Standards). According to the report, which covers the performance of Aksa Akrilik and its subsidiaries, freshwater consumption decreased by 52% compared to the 2021 baseline year, while a total of 102.7 thousand MWh of waste heat was recovered and utilized in production processes across Aksa Akrilik and Akset Enerji. Aiming to reduce absolute Scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2035, Aksa Akrilik positions climate and resource management as central pillars of its long-term growth strategy.

In the global textiles and materials sector, production methodologies and resource utilization are increasingly becoming decisive determinants of competitive advantage. The efficient use of energy and water resources, low-carbon manufacturing, circular economy principles, and next-generation materials are reshaping the priorities of global industry. This transition is driving manufacturers to minimize their environmental footprints while generating higher value-added output through technology and innovation.

Adopting sustainability as an integral element of its growth strategy and business model, Akkök Holding affiliate Aksa Akrilik continued its operations in 2025 across resource efficiency, climate risk management, advanced materials, and circular economy practices. The 2025 TSRS-Compliant Sustainability Report addresses group-wide activities encompassing Aksa Akrilik as well as Akset Enerji, Aksa Carbon, and Aksa İleri Kompozit. Reinforcing its leadership in the acrylic fiber industry through an innovative manufacturing approach, Aksa Akrilik supports its transformation with measurable targets and capital investments, operating with approximately 1,500 employees, a 600,000-square-meter production area, and an annual acrylic fiber production capacity of 355,000 tons.

“We View Efficiency as an Integral Part of Our Production Strength”

Evaluating the 2025 results, Aksa Akrilik General Manager Didem Tunçbilek emphasized that sustainability objectives are addressed in tandem with the company’s production and growth strategy: “While treating climate-related risks and opportunities as an inseparable component of our strategic decision-making processes, we are accelerating our operational transformation through initiatives that enhance efficiency in water, energy, and raw material utilization. We implement practices that reduce water consumption in our polymerization processes, recover wastewater and raw materials to reintroduce resources back into production, and contribute directly to the circular economy. Through technological enhancements in our dyeing processes, we achieve significant water savings, prioritize continuous improvement in energy utilization, and recover and repurpose waste heat generated during production.”

Freshwater Consumption Reduced by 52%

One of the standout achievements in Aksa Akrilik’s 2025 performance was recorded in water consumption. The company lowered its freshwater consumption from 3,238,750 cubic meters in 2021 to 1,552,398 cubic meters by the end of 2025. This delivered an approximate 52% reduction, substantially exceeding the 30% reduction target established for the end of 2025. The report highlights that this performance significantly outperformed the designated goal.

Water stewardship represents a vital area for Aksa Akrilik in terms of operational resilience as well as manufacturing efficiency. The report identifies regional water stress and the impacts of rising temperatures on surface and groundwater reserves as physical climate risks affecting production continuity. The company executes technological upgrades and capital investments aimed at boosting water efficiency, optimizing water usage, and lowering the operational dependency on water resources to strengthen resilience against climate risks.

Waste Heat Reutilized in Production Reaches Nearly Four Times the Annual Target

In energy efficiency, the recovery and utilization of waste heat generated during production stand out as a key milestone. Against an annual target of utilizing an average of 20,000 MWh of waste heat in production, Aksa Akrilik reutilized 76,705.7 MWh of waste heat in manufacturing processes in 2025, reaching nearly four times its annual target. Combined with the 26,044.2 MWh recovered by Akset Enerji, a consolidated total of 102,749.9 MWh of waste heat—as disclosed in the report—was recovered and fed back into production processes. This practice reintroduces process energy back into operations while actively supporting more efficient energy resource utilization.

40% Emission Reduction in the 2035 Roadmap

Alongside its resource efficiency outcomes, Aksa Akrilik continues to pursue its long-term climate targets. The company aims to reduce its absolute Scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2035 relative to the 2021 baseline year. To this end, extensive initiatives are underway across energy efficiency projects, waste heat recovery, upgrading machinery and equipment to higher-efficiency models, and assessing alternative energy sources.

The report also identifies carbon pricing among the primary transition risks confronting the company. The prospective impacts of carbon costs on production—chiefly concerning the planned implementation of Türkiye’s Emissions Trading System (ETS)—are analyzed under multiple operational scenarios.

Share of Sustainable Product Innovations in R&D Reaches 38%

Meeting the growing market demand for low-carbon products, capitalizing on new market opportunities through efficiency-driven product innovations, and responding to evolving consumer expectations reinforce the strategic role of R&D within the company’s sustainability approach. As an important indicator of this strategy, the share of sustainable product innovations within total R&D projects reached 38% in 2025.

Within this scope, development continues on products and processes engineered to reduce resource consumption and elevate environmental performance. Notable examples highlighted in the report include reactive dyeable acrylic fiber, which enables single-bath dyeing compared to conventional two-bath dyeing methods, offering savings potentials of up to 35% in water consumption and processing time, and up to 30% in energy consumption. Aksa continues its R&D initiatives across biodegradable acrylic, antimony-free modacrylic, and modified acrylic fibers to continuously expand a sustainable product portfolio with reduced environmental impact designed to meet future industry demands.