Source: pagev.net

“A Call to European Companies in Recycling: ‘Let’s Produce Together’”

 

While recycling and recycling technologies continue to be a major topic of global discussion, Turkey’s recent initiatives in this area are attracting attention. Yavuz Eroğlu, Chairman of the Board of the Green Transformation and Technology Association (PAGÇEV), PAGEV, and SEM Plastik, stated that despite all obstacles from competitors, Turkey has risen to second place in Europe in recycling production. He also called on European companies to “come and produce together” in order to enhance the quality of the green transformation.

Addressing the recent visa issues as well, Eroğlu urged the Ministry of Trade to prioritize this matter.

This year, 35 companies from Turkey participated in the European Plastics Recycling Fair held in Amsterdam. Yavuz Eroğlu, Chairman of the Board of the Green Transformation and Technology Association (PAGÇEV), PAGEV, and SEM Plastik, stated that Turkish companies accounted for 10 percent of all participants, emphasizing that Turkey’s share in the recycling sector is growing rapidly and has reached a highly significant level.

Eroğlu noted that Turkey’s recycling capacity in granule form has reached 1.5 million tons, and despite all obstacles, the country has been making rapid progress both in recycling and in recycling technologies, climbing to second place in Europe.

Eroğlu shared the following information:

“They don’t want to give us back our own waste”

“Normally, the total amount of plastic produced in Turkey — from car parts to packaging — is nearly 11 million tons. So, if we produce that much plastic, why are we only able to collect 1.5 million tons of it for recycling? The answer lies in exports. Turkey is also one of the largest exporters of plastic products — plastic bottles, car bumpers, refrigerator parts, other white goods, you name it. We manufacture all of these here, but they are exported abroad.

To recycle the plastic products that we export, we actually need to re-import them back into Turkey. However, European companies are seriously trying to block this process. They impose various technical barriers to prevent us from receiving back the scrap materials of the very goods we exported to them, effectively closing the door.

Because now, waste has become as valuable as gold. They say, ‘Europe’s garbage is coming to Turkey,’ but that so-called garbage is actually ours — we’re the ones who produced it. As long as we continue exporting, Turkey will need to import waste from abroad.”

“We must absolutely know and protect our rights. There is an Ankara Agreement that Turkey signed with the European Union, and based on this agreement, the Customs Union was established. Some of the conditions within the Customs Union are very clear. For example, Article 9 explicitly states that ‘no technical barriers shall be imposed.’

Unfortunately, what we face are always technical barriers. They might impose such obstacles on China, but we have an agreement — and this agreement must be respected. Under the Ankara Agreement, our bureaucrats must strongly defend Article 9 of the Customs Union Agreement, which concerns the prohibition of technical barriers.

European countries that are losing their competitiveness in the field of recycling are now seriously targeting Turkey.”