16th PAGEV Turkish Plastic Industry Congress

The 16th PAGEV Turkish Plastics Industry Congress, the most important international organisation of the plastics industry, one of the flagship sectors of the economy, was held at TÜYAP Palas in Istanbul. This year's theme of the congress was "Next Generation Sustainability in the Circular Plastics Economy" and 3 different panels took place. Local and foreign panellists participating in the sessions held under the titles of "3 Keys of Green Transition; Green Financing, Reaching Waste and Mindset Transition", "Green Technologies" and "Green Transition Legal Regulations" explained the developments in the circular economy. In the congress where global brands and experts in their fields were speakers, the rapidly developing green economy trend in the world was discussed.

Yavuz Eroğlu, President of the Turkish Plastics Industry Foundation (PAGEV), which hosted the congress, said that the European Green Deal has redesigned the trade paradigm in the world in line with the targets extending to 2050. “Stating that the new growth strategy adopted in order to achieve these objectives is planned according to the climate change axis, Eroğlu said that it is possible to see the footprints of the Green Deal in every field from supply chain to financing, from energy to transport, from packaging to construction and agricultural sector. The change in Europe, which is our most important market, within the scope of Green Economy and Green Technologies, of course binds Turkiye as well. In this context, growth will accelerate in the recycling industry, which has become important. The Green Deal in Europe, which offers risks and opportunities for the Turkish Plastics Industry, clearly declares that the trade paradigm in the world has changed by penalising imported products with high carbon footprint by collecting additional carbon offsetting fees, rendering productions with high carbon emissions disadvantageous. Turkiye, which needs to be integrated into the circular economy, should make a transition to a production approach compatible with green transition if it does not want to lose the countries it exports to, especially Europe, its largest market. Considering that the linear economy is over and the circular economy prevails, a restructuring should be made in the understanding of production."

Turkiye will stand out in green transition with RePlast fair

Stating that the trend of recycling has increased in the rapidly changing world with Green Transition and Green Technology, Eroğlu stated that wastes have become strategic raw materials and said: "In today's world where global warming has reached to the extreme, the whole world has turned towards reusing the resources that have already become products by recycling instead of using petroleum derivative raw materials from scratch. This process, which we can summarise as circular economy, is important in terms of creating both a cleaner world and new economic resources. Recycling and reusing the materials we use brings along the growth of the recycling industry for the country's economies. Today, recycled raw materials are more in demand than the original raw materials produced from oil. This change towards wastes leads the whole world to reach recycled raw materials and machinery-equipment technology to process the raw materials in question. The Turkish Plastics Industry, which ranks 6th in the world and 2nd in Europe after Germany, aims to be a pioneer in the world in the recycling sector. For this purpose, our PAGÇEV Green Recycling and Technologies Association, which we established under the leadership of PAGEV, will organise RePlast Eurasia Plastic Recycling Technologies and Raw Materials Fair in cooperation with TÜYAP. The Fair, the first of which will take place next year on 2-4 May 2024, is a clear indication that Turkiye will continue its pioneering role in green transition and will assert its claim to be at the forefront in this race. Our fair, which will be held with international participation and with the support of the European Plastics Converters (EUPC), in which we take part in the management as PAGEV, will become the centre where the innovations of plastic recycling technologies and raw materials will be exhibited. We foresee that our fair, which we believe will put Turkiye ahead in the green transition race in the world, will provide significant gains to the sector. RePlast Eurasia Plastic Recycling Technologies and Raw Materials Fair, which will become an international brand, will accelerate the steps taken by Turkiye in Green Transition".

Emphasising that plastics make life easier, Eroğlu said, "Plastics have no place in nature, they have a lot of place and a lot of work in our lives, let's recycle them"

THY flies to 2050 carbon neutreal airline target with sustainability eforts

Speaking at the 16th PAGEV Turkish Plastics Industry Congress with the theme of "Next Generation Sustainability in the Circular Plastics Economy", Levent Konukcu, Deputy General Manager Investment and Technology of Turkish Airlines (THY), was a speaker under the title of "Mindset Transition", one of the 3 Keys of Green Transition. Konukcu explained the important steps taken by THY, which has 90 years of experience in the sky, in the field of sustainability, and stated that as the airline brand flying to the most countries in the world, they are taking firm steps towards becoming the youngest and most modern fleet in Europe: "After announcing our Sustainability Vision in 2009, we have achieved many firsts to this day. In 2014, we published our first Sustainability Report. In 2016, we carried out ISO 14064-1 Reporting and Verification of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and received the LACP Award for our Sustainability Report. After our first flight in which we fulfilled the SAF Obligations, we became the first airline to directly receive the IEnvA Stage 2 Certificate. In 2022, we established our Voluntary Carbon Offset Platform and in 2023, we announced our 2050 Carbon-Neutral Target. Thus, we have succeeded in playing our leadership role in the developing regulations in the aviation industry worldwide. We are progressing step by step towards our 2050 Carbon Neutral Airline target by reducing our carbon emissions with our next generation aircraft, sustainable fuel use, operational improvements and the use of renewable energy in our new buildings. With a total of 437 aircraft in our young fleet, we ensure fuel efficiency and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions."

Significant local and foregin brands and names participated in the Congres

The following names were the speakers in the panels at the 16th PAGEV Turkish Plastics Industry Congress, which was held with a wide local and foreign participation and moderated by Habertürk TV Economy News Manager Zeliha Saraç: Levent Konukcu, THY Deputy General Manager Investment and Technology - Barış Tunçsiper, World Bank (IFC) Senior Investment Officer, Elif Baknalı European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Green Economy Executive - Vedat Kılıç, Association of Recyclable Packaging Materials Collectors and Sorters(TÜDAM) President - Ayşe Melis Kocatürk, Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkiye (TÜBİTAK) Deputy Manader of Science, Technology and Innovation Policies, Tamer Güven, İnan PLS Makine Chairman of the Board - Tolga Yalnız, General Manager of SIBUR Turkiye - Manfred Wittner, Chevron Lummus Novolen Technology Direcctor Business Development Licensing- Serkan Orhan, TOMRA Recycling Sorting Turkiye and Middle East Sales Manager, Sven Ortner, Ngr Manager - Ümit Yasin Güven, Rep. Of Türkite Ministry of Industry and Technology General Directorate of Industry, Head of Department - Sabriye Ayhan, Rep. Of Turkiye Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Head of Circular Economy and Waste Management Department - Dr. Nesrin Gündoğan Üzer, Rep. of Turkiye Ministry of Trade Head of EU Technical Legislation Department - Yağmur Eroğlu, CERTILOOP General Manager - Serap Akalın Kızıloğlu, Rep. of Turkiye Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Head of Food Establishments and Codex Department - Dr. Martin Engelmann, German Plastic Packaging Association (IK) Director General.