This Invention Will Give Turkey's Economy Room to Breathe

# This Discovery Will Breathe New Life into Turkey's Economy Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yusuf Yılmaz from Gaziantep University has produced virgin raw material from waste plastic PVC as a result of 3 years of research. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yılmaz, who authored this invention that will contribute millions of liras to Turkey's economy, said, "We can recover significant quantities of plastic and reduce imports. This will have serious economic benefits." Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yusuf Yılmaz, Head of the Chemistry Technology Department at Gaziantep University's Naci Topçuoğlu Vocational School (MYO), made an important discovery while conducting research at the Footwear Testing Laboratory. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yılmaz realized that polyvinyl chloride (PVC) waste, which is used in numerous industrial applications and thousands of tons of which Turkey imports annually, could be recovered and reused. Beginning work in 2019 on the recovery of waste PVC, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yılmaz found the formula to convert waste PVC into virgin raw material after 3 years.

Will Contribute Millions of Liras to the Economy

Thanks to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yılmaz's discovery, which will contribute millions of liras to Turkey's economy, a significant portion of imports will be prevented through recovery of waste plastic. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yusuf Yılmaz, who explained his finding that will provide serious benefits to both the economy and the environment by enabling plastic waste recovery, to İhlas Haber Ajansı (İHA), said, "If we can reach the targeted results in this project, we will recover significant quantities of polymer. This will have serious economic benefits."

Virgin Raw Material Obtained from Waste Plastic

Yılmaz emphasized the serious environmental damage caused by plastics and their extremely long decomposition time in the environment, and stated that while recycling of plastics is possible, he has focused on recovery. Pointing out that secondary grade raw material is obtained from waste plastics in recycling, Yılmaz said, "In recovery, waste plastics are also collected. After undergoing certain physical and chemical processes, the plastic contained within—the original polymer—is recovered. It is provided as virgin raw material to the same or another sector. That is the difference between them. Turkey does not yet have this level of recovery. In the world, there are limited studies in the literature. Plastic recycling exists, but in terms of the recovery that we are working on, there is no other example yet."

Discovery That Virgin Polymer Can Be Recovered at 95 to 97 Percent Rates

Yılmaz explained that he found the formula while conducting analyses on shoes being tested at the Footwear Testing Laboratory, saying, "I noticed that when the polymer dissolved in an appropriate solvent was followed by the addition of another solvent, it precipitated. I investigated what these solvents could be and how we could precipitate better. From there, I conducted research asking 'How can we recover more polymer?' After lengthy research, I reached a point. We saw that in the operations we performed, the original polymer truly separated from the waste. While researching these, we discovered that virgin polymer could be recovered at 95 to 97 percent rates. PVC is used in numerous industrial applications. PVC is particularly used in doors and windows, exterior coating systems, toys, wastewater pipes, cable coverings, footwear, artificial leather manufacturing, and shoe soles. There are many applications. Every company producing in this field is forced to import this polymer. Currently, the market price of polymer per ton ranges between USD 2,600 and USD 3,000. And our country imports thousands of tons of polymer annually," he said.

Imports Can Be Reduced by Recovering Waste Plastic

Stressing that it is impossible to completely halt imports but that waste PVC recovery can significantly reduce imports, Yılmaz said, "If we can reach the targeted results, we will recover significant quantities of polymer. This will have serious economic benefits. Along with that, it will create employment. At the same time, it will contribute to environmental protection. At a further stage, it will become aligned with the goal of efficient resource use, which is among the targets of the European Green Deal. My goal after this stage is to establish a polymer recovery research and development center at our university and to conduct research on the recovery of other thermoplastics along with PVC using European Union (EU) funds. I want to advance this project further with the support of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change and the Ministry of Industry and Technology," he said.