Recycled paper producers eye 5M tons by 2020

The latest investment in the paper recycling industry aims to increase production to 5 million tons per year by 2020, the Waste Paper and Recyclers Association (AGED) said.

Osman Kaytan, chairman of AGED, told Anadolu Agency, only 50 percent of recycled paper could be collected domestically, due to which the industry had to import paper to continue production.

"Although importing raw materials at relatively low cost, and exporting it by creating added value is a very important contribution to our economy, but as a sector, we prefer to procure more efficient and clean paper domestically, especially from houses," Kaytan said.

Noting that the sector had "positive economic environment" for the past year-and-a-half, Kaytan said that the recent fluctuations in the foreign exchange market negatively influenced the paper recycle industry, with slowdown in international and domestic sales.

"The finished product prices have naturally surged owing to an increase in energy costs and the use of imported chemicals," he said.

He added that he had full trust that the industry will come out stronger from these troubles as it had in the past.

Özcan Pektaş, the chairman of Turkish Association of Consumer and Environmental Education (TUKCEV), said paper production in Turkey depends on imports.

"The more wastepaper is collected domestically, the less will the foreign-source dependency be in the coming years," Pektaş said.

He added that 85 percent of paper production can be carried out from waste material.