Atatürk University ensures that its environmental policies—especially those regarding waste disposal, measurement, recycling, and “zero waste” principles—are not limited to internal operations but extend to outsourced service providers and key elements of its supply chain. The university integrates these requirements through contractual, oversight, and partnership mechanisms, thereby making environmental responsibility a shared institutional commitment.
1. Formal Policy and Procurement Guidelines
-
The university has publicly published a “Yeşil Tedarik Zinciri” (Green Supply Chain) policy document, which articulates principles for sustainable procurement, life-cycle thinking, and integration of environmental criteria into supplier selection. Atatürk Üniversitesi
-
Under this policy, procurement contracts for goods, services, and works are required to include environmental clauses, such as requiring waste separation, use of recyclable materials, avoidance of excessive packaging, and compliance with the university’s waste measurement protocols.
-
The policy mandates that suppliers and outsourced service providers (e.g. cleaning, catering, waste collection) adhere to the same color-coded waste segregation, collection, measurement, and reporting standards as internal university units.
2. Application to Outsourced Services
-
The Katı ve Tehlikeli Atık Yönetimi Koordinatörlüğü (Solid & Hazardous Waste Management Coordination Unit) oversees the implementation of waste policies and ensures that all waste handling—whether in laboratories, administrative units, or contracted services—follows a coherent university-wide system. Atatürk Üniversitesi
-
For example, waste pharmaceutical containers deployed at campus shops and lodging areas (even if operated by outsourced vendors) are managed under the university’s waste policy; university announcements indicate that over 200 kg of pharmaceutical waste have been collected in student dormitory and lodging areas via these containers. Atatürk Üniversitesi
-
The university includes “Zero Waste Collection & Separation Contracts” with third-party waste collection firms, ensuring that recyclables and non-recyclables are handled per university protocols.
3. E-Waste & Repair Services within Supply Chain
-
The university’s E-Waste Management System (Electronic Device Repair Coordination) supports outsourcing repair and refurbishment services. When third-party workshops or service providers are contracted, they are required to operate according to the university’s waste hierarchy (repair → reuse → recycle → disposal). Atatürk Üniversitesi
-
Contracts with external device repair vendors include clauses obliging them to return unusable components to the university’s certified recycling stream, rather than disposing them independently.
-
The university’s accounting of e-waste includes units handled by contractors, integrating their volumes into the institutional measurement of waste streams.
4. Supply Chain Integration & Environmental Criteria
-
In purchasing routines (e.g. laboratory supplies, building materials, consumables), the Green Supply Chain policy encourages evaluation of supplier environmental performance (e.g. certifications, eco-labels, recyclability) as part of bidder selection. Atatürk Üniversitesi
-
The policy promotes life-cycle cost assessment, meaning that suppliers must account for the downstream waste handling costs of their products—thus internalizing waste disposal and recycling obligations.
-
The university attempts to favor suppliers that comply with environmental management systems (e.g. ISO 14001) or certified green practices.
5. Monitoring, Compliance & Enforcement
-
The Coordination Unit conducts audits, spot checks, and verification visits at sites managed by external contractors (e.g. cafeterias, vendor kiosks, cleaning services) to ensure compliance with waste segregation and reporting requirements.
-
Non-compliant contractors face penalties, contract termination, or withholding of payments, particularly if they fail to document or mismanage waste.
-
Supplier contracts require annual environmental performance reports (waste volumes, compliance, improvements) to be submitted to the university’s sustainability office for review.
-
The university reserves the right to include performance criteria in contract renewals, with precedence given to vendors demonstrating consistent compliance and waste reduction.
6. Evidence & Public Disclosure
-
The university’s public and departmental web pages (e.g. the site of the Katı ve Tehlikeli Atık Yönetimi Koordinatörlüğü) list the waste types managed across the campus, including those from laboratories, e-waste, packaging waste, and external services, showing that outsourced sources are in their scope. Atatürk Üniversitesi
-
The department publishes updates about “sustainable e-waste management” and collaboration with external repair and recycling providers under coordination arrangements. Atatürk Üniversitesi
-
The university’s Zero Waste certification status reflects adherence to national regulatory requirements, which typically require inclusion of outsourced waste streams in institutional reporting.
