Koroplast: "Leading the Way in Green Transformation"

Report: B. Serhat Cengiz

We conducted a comprehensive report with Ersen Yılmaz, Operations Director at Koroplast, on green transition in the plastics sector, technological investments and sustainability. As representative of the pioneering brand that first produced garbage bags and refrigerator pouches in Turkey, he provided important assessments on the sector's future.

First, could you introduce yourself? What is your role at Koroplast?
I graduated from Istanbul University's Department of Electrical-Electronics Engineering in 2000. Starting from my final year of studies until 2002, I worked as a field and transmission engineer at Siemens and Alcatel. My career journey with Korozo Group began in 2002. During this period, I took on responsibilities in different departments and positions within the group. Currently, I serve as Operations Director at Koroplast Cleaning Packaging. I am responsible for coordinating many departments including Production, Technical Operations, Quality Assurance, R&D, Occupational Health and Safety, and Inventory and Shipping.

What is Koroplast's position in the sector? Could you tell us about the company's history?
Koroplast is a pioneering brand in Turkey that first produced garbage bags and refrigerator pouches, bringing these products to Turkish consumers. We are the sector leader that introduced consumers to these products and made them familiar with their use. Since our establishment, we have strived to fulfill the requirements of being a leading brand with great sense of responsibility. Despite all difficulties brought by global crises, economic contractions and unfair competition, we have never compromised on our quality production approach and our pioneering mission. In line with this vision, we continue our technological investments in cooperation with the sector and carry our brand forward to future generations.

What is your approach to innovation? What are you doing in this field?
Innovation is one of the fundamental pillars of Koroplast. In this context, we make regular investments in both technology and human resources. We do not view innovation only as producing a new product and launching it to the market; we also evaluate the processes of developing and improving our existing product groups within this scope. With this understanding, we integrate our production facilities and laboratories with high technology. By closely monitoring sectoral developments, current trends and regulations, we rapidly integrate any kind of change into our operations. Additionally, we continuously develop our human resources through participation in trade fairs, international visits and conferences.

Could you provide information about your production capacity and technological infrastructure?
Koroplast carries out production and storage activities in an area of approximately 20,000 square meters at its Esenyurt facility. Our production facility has a total of 113 lines including auxiliary equipment. Our annual production capacity is approximately 15,000 tons. Digitalization is an important area on which we are strategically focused. With our operational excellence approach, we monitor our production data and energy consumption through a SCADA system; with the data we obtain, we conduct continuous improvement activities. Through automation-oriented projects, by converting manual operations to automatic ones, we increase both our operational and labor force efficiency to the highest level.

What is your strategy on green transition? What steps have you taken in this field?
The new world order is being shaped on the principles of green transition and circular economy. Regulations on plastic packaging worldwide, particularly led by the European Union, recycled raw material usage quotas and plastic taxes directly affect our sector. To integrate into this new order, we signed a strategic agreement with CSR Plastik, which has Turkey's most modern and technological recycling facility. Through this collaboration, our plastic waste is converted into recycled raw material at CSR Plastik's facilities and used in our production. In addition, we work closely with PAGEV, municipalities and various associations. We also play an active role in education, explaining to young people the importance of recycling and organizing awareness training sessions in schools. We published our book titled "The Girl Whispering to Birds" and brought its story to the theater stage to meet students.

What is your situation regarding EU regulations and plastic taxes?
The European Union has a regulation known as PPWR (Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation). Starting from 2030, all packaging must be recyclable and there is an obligation to use recycled raw materials at certain rates. This rate is set at 35% for 2030 and 65% for 2040. The UK and some EU countries have started implementing plastic taxes. For example, the UK charges GBP 223 per ton and Spain charges GBP 450 per ton in plastic tax. To comply with these developments, we obtained Recyclass Traceability and Blue Angel certifications. These certifications document the traceability of recycled raw materials used in product formulations. In this way, we aim to protect ourselves from barriers such as plastic taxes that we may encounter in export markets and increase our competitive strength.

What certifications do you have and what are your future plans?
In addition to our Recyclass Traceability and Blue Angel certifications, we also hold ISO 9001 Quality, ISO 22000 Food Safety, BRC, Vegan, Halal, TSE and ISO 27001 Information Security Management Systems certifications. This year we plan to obtain SEDEX 4 Pillar certification as well. Our next steps will be ISO 14001 Environmental and ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety certifications. With our innovation, digitalization and human-centered management approach, we continue to invest in technology and human resources. In 2025, we will put into operation a new converting line with high productivity. We will also increase the number of robotic applications to further increase our labor force efficiency. Following that, we plan to implement investment in a Blown Film Extrusion line with high technology. These steps will make significant contributions to our export strategy by increasing our production capacity.

What would you like to say about common misconceptions regarding plastic?
Nowadays, plastic is shown as the main cause of environmental problems; however, the reality is different. Alternative packaging materials used instead of plastic have much higher carbon emissions. For example, paper consumes 4 times more energy and glass 14 times more energy. Moreover, although it is thought that the majority of packaging waste is plastic, in reality the proportion of paper and cardboard is over 40%. PAGEV has a very meaningful slogan on this subject: "Plastic has no place in nature, but it has a place in our lives." Plastic is present in every aspect of life, from food to hygiene, from health to transportation. Alternative products cannot provide the same benefits that plastic provides with the same efficiency. One-third of food produced worldwide is wasted, and this situation accounts for 11% of global carbon emissions. The source of the problem is not plastic, but how plastic is managed. For this reason, we do not demonize plastic; instead, we encourage responsible use and recycling.

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