As Otaci, we prioritize giving back to people and nature above all. We aspire to enhance nature with technology and, in doing so, use green, herbal, and natural ingredients in our cosmetics, vegan certied ingredients to minimize our impact on other living creatures, and dispose of waste in the least harmful ways possible. Furthermore, we have been supporting education by funding university students with needs for over three decades and empowering women at our workplaces since the birth of our company. We separate our sustainability objectives under nature, waste disposal, education, gender equality, and quality with equal emphasis on all.
We aspire to use natural ingredients, not only because it is our heritage from our founder, Ph. Niyazi Kurtsan, but also due to our understanding of business ethics.
We have received various certications and awards to cement our sustainability approaches, such as European Vegetarian Union Vegan Certications, ISO Istanbul Industry Organisation Large Scale Businesses Innovative Nature-Friendly Finalists, Turkish Nature Preservation Organisation Green Point Gold Awards, and GMP (Good Manufacturing) Certications.
Our companies comply with GMP and ISO 14001 standards in waste disposal. ISO 14001 certication, which is a globally recognized management system standard published by ISO (International Organization of Standardization). It provides a tried and tested framework for ensuring regulatory compliance. Implementing an Environmental Management System is a solid way to identify and control the effects of our company on the environment. However, this is only the first step in our approach to waste disposal. We take proactive steps and make further investments to ensure we are not only in compliance but also a visionary in this area. We have made continuous investments in waste treatment and solvent recycling and organized internal competitions amongst our employees to find innovative solutions to waste disposal methods.
Kurtsan Science, Art, and Education Fund naturally existed since the formation of Kurtsan Holding, the parent company of Otaci. However, it was officially registered in 1993 with the understanding that science
and art are the strongest foundations in educating and exalting people in serving society and humanity and contributing to society's social and cultural development. Every year we add between fifteen to thirty new students to our list of scholarships, and we selectively choose high-caliber students who may not have the chance to attend university in the absence of this support. By doing so, we thrive on making a real impact in our world with our almost one thousand graduates.
Besides, we aspire to provide gender equality with the vision of our second-generation partner Meltem Kurtsan, the honorary founding president of the Womens' Entrepreneurship Association of Turkey. At our manufacturing facility in Bandirma, we are one of the very few companies in Turkey with a majority of female employees, with an approximate 60:40 ratio. A similar ratio can be found throughout our offices. Besides, we understand that pay equality and women in higher levels of management are of serious concern. We are proud that our top management roles have been compensated with equal opportunities and positions covered by a similar if not larger ratio to our manufacturing facilities since the 1990s.
We have ISO 18001 Occupational Health and Safety Management Certication, an international standard that provides a framework to identify, control, and decrease the risks associated with health and safety within the workplace. Implementing this standard sends a clear signal to our stakeholders that we view employees' health and safety as a priority within our organization. The ISO 22000 family of International Standards addresses food safety management which we have also obtained. The consequences of unsafe food can be serious, and ISO's food safety management standards help organizations identify and control food safety hazards. It maps out what an organization needs to do to demonstrate its ability to control food safety hazards to ensure that food is safe. ISO 13485, Medical devices – Quality management systems – Requirements for regulatory purposes, is an internationally agreed standard that sets out the requirements for a quality management system specic to the medical devices industry. We also fulll the requirements for this standard accompanied by its certication.
The world is going through difficult times due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We have taken immediate action to increase health and safety measures at our facilities. Since our production facility is Pharma Grade GMP approved, we naturally have very high-level measures against contamination as opposed to most cosmetics and beauty-producing facilities. However, we have taken many extra measures that suppress social interaction and contamination. By doing so, we have been able to keep our production and supply running throughout the pandemic's peak. Coupled with the recent digital transformation that enables efficient and effective remote work for non-production staff, we believe in having minimized risks related to the current pandemic. We have also been sourcing protective gear, especially face masks for healthcare personnel and pharmacies, while producing disinfectants and antiviral and antibacterial solutions to supply the most vulnerable in our production facility.
