Market bag production increased by 25% after Covid-19

Plastic bag usage has increased when users started using plastic bags instead of mesh bags after the Covid-19 outbreak. Turkish Plastic Industrialists Research and Development Education Foundation (PAGEV) President Yavuz Eroğlu said that single use plastic products are on the rise during the epidemic and plastic bag production is up by 25%.

Covid-19 epidemic has also changed our daily habits. When infection specialists explained that shopping with mesh bags and cloth bags are risky because of the virus, consumers have switched back to market bags. Single use gloves were put in the fresh grocery sections of the markets to keep consumers from touching with their hands. Emphasizing that the measures taken during the outbreak has increased the production of single use plastic products and plastic bags, PAGEV President Yavuz Eroğlu stated that the plastic bag production has increased by 25% compared to previous year and that this increase is even more in some products.

Plastic bag fees should be removed until the outbreak is over

Explaining that following the Ministry of Commerce's decision to have the products being bagged in market places there was compulsory increase in the plastic bag usage, Eroğlu states that the same rule also applied to bakeries. Emphasizing that these measures has showed the importance of single use and recycled plastic products for community health, Eroğlu said, “People are paying to get plastic bags in the markets but there are also people that can’t afford the 25 kuruş price. We talked to the ministry officials and asked them to remove this price at least until the outbreak is over. Our proposal is being evaluated, we will see what happens.”

Turkey is the second biggest manufacturer in Europe

Emphasizing that Turkey is the second biggest single use plastic package manufacturer after Italy, Eroğlu told that there will be no issues in the supply chain in this regard. Stating that Turkey is the third biggest country in export after China and Italy, Eroğlu said, “Factories manufacturing single use plastic products are operating at maximum capacity and meeting both the domestic and international demand.”

PAGEV President Eroğlu emphasized that the country Turkey exports the most single use plastic bags to is Israel with 25% share. Eroğlu explained that France, United Kingdom and USA is coming after Israel and he ended his words saying, “Turkey has manufactured 2 billion 105 million Turkish Lira worth of single use plastic product in 2019. Half of the said production is export.”