TURKISH PLASTICS INDUSTRY BECAME A PERMANENT MEMBER OF EU

Turkish plastics industry became a permanent member of the European Union before Turkey. Heads and senior managements of the European plastics foundations gathered under the roof of PlasticsEurope came together during the Istanbul Plastics Summit presided by PAGEV. By this historical declaration, challenges the Turkish and European plastics industries have to face were evaluated and forward-looking strategies were set. With the appearance of İbrahim Kılıçarslan –the Directorate General of Industry Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology–, the Istanbul Plastics Declaration signed by the Chairman of the Executive Board of PAGEV Yavuz Eroğlu and CEO of PlasticsEurope Karl Foester will steer the course of the plastics industry and be a model for all industries. The Chief Project Director of the Prime Ministry Investment Support and Promotion Agency Necmettin Kaymaz gave a speech on Turkish economy and co-investment opportunities to the presidents of the foundations representing thousands of companies in Europe. Moreover, the representatives participated in the summit started Eurasia's largest plastics fair, the 25th edition of PlastEurasia.

Click to display photos of Istanbul Plastics Summit

The Istanbul Plastics Declaration set the primary challenges that Turkish and European plastics industries have to face, namely accelerating the speed of growth, unemployment, growth need, high costs of energy and feed stock, inadequate qualified workforce, need for future investments, absence of a harmonized and complementary networked legislation and better enforcement of the industry's "Zero Plastics to Landfill" policy.

It was highlighted that more competitive energy and feed stock costs should be provided and new energy resources should be targeted in order to overcome these concerns. Harmonization of the legislation on chemicals within a "single market, single regulation" approach, better controls on the import goods penetrating the EU and Turkey, the involvement of the plastics industry in the policies on re-industrialization and circular economy initiatives, and establishing incentive policies by Turkey and the Commission to improve competitiveness of the plastics industry were included among other key strategies. It was agreed by the declaration that more weight must be given to incentives on recycling, waste management controls, social awareness campaigns on value plastic products, and training efforts to engage the young population in the plastics industry. Pioneering in the industry for prevention of plastic marine litters was decreed.

WE WILL BE THE BASE OF PRODUCTION AND CENTER OF DECISION-MAKING

Yavuz Eroğlu, the Chairman of the Executive Board of PAGEV, said presiding the Istanbul Plastics Summit "Turkish plastics industry holds Europe's second (after Germany) and world's seventh largest production capacity. We may not be an EU member, but all laws and regulations in place in the European Union affect us because of the exports to the EU and the on-going harmonization process with Turkey. As a sector, it has become necessary for us to contribute to the Turkish laws and regulations and involve in this harmonization process. When our foundation became a member of the umbrella organization of European plastics companies, our industry was the seventh largest, while it is the second largest now and pushing for leadership. This is a proof of the successful progress and development of the Turkish plastics sector. We wish that Istanbul should be not only Europe's plastics production base but also Europe's decision maker, and we steadily maintain our efforts to do so. We are proud to host a meeting of great importance for the Turkish and European plastics industries via the Istanbul Plastics Summit. We signed a common declaration at the end of weeks of discussions with representatives of plastics foundations from EU-member states that are members of PlasticsEurope, the largest umbrella organization of the EU plastics industry. We are glad to have introduced the Istanbul Plastics Declaration –a combination of two markets constituting a gigantic global power, which will shape the future of the European and Turkish plastics industry."

EUROPEAN AND TURKISH PLASTICS INDUSTRIES – FACTS AND FIGURES

• The plastics industry provides 1.45 million jobs in Europe. Around 62,000 companies operate in Europe. 14,000 plastics companies employ 250,000 people in Turkey.
• Plastics industry makes an annual turnover of 350 bn Euro in Europe, while turnover of Turkish plastics industry is 34 bn dollars.
• Most importantly, plastics industry is an irreplaceable supplier and multiplier for other industries. A research conducted in Europe shows that 100 EUR GDP in the plastics industry generates 238 EUR of GDP in the national economy. So plastics industry has a multiplier effect of 2.4 on the national economy.
• Same research also shows that for every job created in the plastics industry almost 3 additional jobs are created in the wider economy.