As per capita plastics consumption in Turkey has reached 90.1 kg by an increase of 11.5% in the last 3 years, experts suggest environmental and economic impact of plastic waste can be alleviated by recycling. According to the data by Plastic Industrialists Association (PAGDER), the per capita plastic consumption of 80.8 kg in 2015 increased by 11.5% in the last 3 years to reach 90.1 kg last year in Turkey. Mr. Nuri Özbağdatlı, Climate Change and Environment Portfolio Manager of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Turkey Office offered his views on plastics consumption.

Noting that plastics production was annually 1.5 million tonnes in the world in the 1950s and currently stands at 300 million tonnes to have become almost the most consumed commodity, Özbağdatlı stated that Turkey produced 9.6 million tonnes of plastics annually. He said: “Only 2.2 million tonnes of the 9.6 million tonnes of plastics produced in Turkey is used as packaging material, and only 501,000 tonnes of which is recovered. While plastics make life easier, they adversely affect human health and environment. Therefore, holistic solutions are required to solve the plastics problem.”

Mr. Selçuk Gülsün, PAGDER’s Board Chairman, indicated that the plastics sector’s contribution to economy was 37.8 billion dollars last year and the recycling of plastics was important for environment and economy. Noting that 1,439 firms in Turkey worked on recycling plastic waste, Gülsün said: “16 cities with a total population of nearly 4.2 million in our country have no recycling facilities.” A large part of waste arising from daily domestic life, Gülsün underlined that there was individual progress realising the importance of recycling, however the prevalent societal view of packaging waste as “garbage” needed to change. Emphasising waste sorting, Gülsün said: “We must explain the importance of sorting at source and recycling of waste to our people who do not sort the packaging waste at source, put it in the garbage bin, or even dump it in the environment, and inculcate such culture and awareness in our people of all ages.” Pointing out that plastics should not be buried in the soil, but be sorted and recycled, Gülsün added that “The use of plastics for other purposes and excessive consumption causes economic losses to our country dependent on imports of raw materials. We should improve our recycling system now to save our future generations.”