We Import Raw Material, Not Waste

The lifting of import restrictions on plastic waste under the "Import Inspection Notification for Waste Controlled from an Environmental Protection Perspective" published in the Official Gazette on 31 December 2021 has provided relief to the recycling sector. In his assessment on the matter, EGEPLASDER Chairman of the Board of Directors and PLASFED Vice Chairman Şener Gençer recalled that the published notification permits the import of packaging waste materials that have been separately collected at source and sorted according to their properties through mechanical separation.

Recycling All Types of Waste

Commenting on the lifting of restrictions on plastic waste imports, Ege Plastik Sanayicileri Derneği (EGEPLASDER) Chairman of the Board of Directors and Plastik Sanayicileri Federasyonu (PLASFED) Vice Chairman Şener Gençer stated: "Our industrialists, who have the capability to recycle all types of waste, generate significant added value and employment for both our manufacturing industry and the country's economy by producing raw materials," he said. Noting that Turkey has a very strong and technologically advanced recycling sector that strengthens every year, Gençer said, "Our industrialists, who have the capability to recycle all types of waste, generate significant added value and employment for both our manufacturing industry and the country's economy by producing raw materials. To accuse these people of 'importing garbage to Turkey, turning our country into a landfill' is, at the very least, ignorance." Pointing out that by 2050, 60% of the plastics used worldwide will be from recycling sources, Şener Gençer emphasized that all stakeholders of waste management in Turkey, particularly local administrations, need to unite around a "National Action Plan." The Pet Bottles You Throw Away Actually Become the Fibre in Your Clothing Noting that countries worldwide categorize their municipal and industrial waste either as an "energy source" or "garbage," and that despite Turkey's recent progress in waste sorting, it still ranks among second-category countries, Gençer made the following assessment: "Among the plastic waste whose import has been permitted by the notification published in the Official Gazette are products in bottle form consisting of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyoxymethylene (POM), acrylic polymer, polycarbonate, polyamide and different polymer types. After being recycled, these products become raw materials for many industrial sectors, particularly in polyester yarn production in our textile industry. No reasonable person would pay between EUR 250 and EUR 800 per ton for imported garbage. Our citizens do not know that the plastic bottle they throw away instead of putting in a recycling bin is transformed into the dress they wear or the blanket they wrap around themselves in the evening. If they were aware of this situation, we are certain they would behave very differently. Among plastic waste used in Turkey's recycling sector, there is not a single gram of plastic waste collected domestically that is not used. The ratio of plastic waste converted at source within the country does not even reach 15%. There is an 8-fold difference in energy requirement between obtaining 1 unit of reclaimed material in plastics and 1 unit of virgin material. In the Green Deal process, countries must place far greater emphasis on the recycling sector. Our citizens need to be aware that not only plastic waste, but all types of municipal and industrial waste are national assets. Source