FLEXIBLE PACKAGING

DEVELOPMENT OF PACKAGING IN TURKEY

In 1960s, packaging materials in our country consisted of; paper, cardboard, cellophane and wood. Wooden boxes and jute bags were being used for exports, other packaging materials were considered luxury materials which increased the cost. In 1970s, the importance of packaging industry was realized, especially in exports. In the same period, various countries had packaging institute. In our country, in 1977, works for establishing a Packaging Research Center were initiated. The primary development of packaging industry in Turkey was in the tin can branch. During this period, apart from the enterprises which were dealing with packaging production to pack their own products, other companies were begun to be founded, to get involved in packaging production. This development which was experienced in tin can area later on expanded to cardboard package and plastic package area as well. In early 1980s, plastic bottle was implemented in our country for the first time. Plastic bottles which had been begun to be used for water packaging began to be used widely for liquid materials packaging in a very short time. This development leaded the glass packaging, which had a serious background in the area, to renew its technology due market concern. Again in 1980s, aluminum boxes which had been imported previously began to be produced in our country as well. The primary corrugated cardboard production in Turkey was began by the establishment of first corrugated factory of SEK in İzmit plants in 1954. Private sector, after 1960, began to get interested in corrugated cardboard investment and production. The period of 1981–1995 was the fastest development period of corrugated cardboard industry in Turkey. 2. Packaging Sector in Turkey. The migration from rural areas to town, higher life standards and the increasing trend of retail shopping have both changed the consumption habits. In 2014 the packaging production per head reached around 220 USD level.3 According to the report issued by the Packaging Industrialist Association( in the basis of Turkish Statistical Institute data), Turkey increased its exportation by11% within the first 9 months of 2015 compared to the same period of the previous year and brought it to a level of 2.97 billion USD. In imports; according to the packaging types, plastic packages in total imports ranked first by a share of 52% followed by 37% paper/ cardboard products. In 2014, the biggest increase within the first 9 months was experienced in glass packaging industry. It displayed an increase of 43% in terms of quantity and 29% in terms of value and reached around 110 billion USD. . The segment which decreased most in importation was the other bag and sack packages. As mentioned by the sector managers, necessity of raw material, intermediate goods for paper/cardboard were not being met satisfactorily. For this reason, the enterprises dealing in intermediate goods production should improve their investments and productions for their production capacity compare to the standards of the enterprises which focused on quality packaging materials production 4 Sector players which drew attention that the development of the packaging sector is proportional with the development of the country In Western Europe, due to packaging, wastage in food was around 2-3 percent. On the other hand, it is stated that a wastage around 16 billion TL – fresh fruit and vegetables and 1,5 billion TL- bread occurs in Turkey every year in Turkey due to various reasons. Sector actors has been bringing forward for a long time that both the bread and pulse and fresh fruit and vegetables are required to be packaged. 5 The packaging materials in Turkey are mainly divided into five groups; paper/cardboard, plastic, glass, metal and wooden packaging items. However, the obligation of making regulations on the product being stored in the package in terms of physical and chemical aspects leads that; the main material should be processed by new technologies and flexibility is provided in terms of shelf life and protection of the goods accordingly. Main materials can be either used directly and can be also used by being attached to each other or by making cover on their one or two surfaces. In Turkey, production sectors which use packaging material are divided into the following groups:

• Soaps, cosmetics and hygiene paper products
• Flour and flour products ; biscuit, cake, snack and bread
• Oil and oil products (liquid, solid); butter and margarines
• Sugar and confectionery; chocolate, chewing gum and nougat products
• Detergent and cleaning products(dust, liquid, gel, cream)
• Milk and dairy products (yoghurt, ayran),
• Various chesses (processed cheese, kashar and other soft and hard cheeses)
• Alcoholic beverages and soft drinks (fruit juices, colas and sodas)
• Cigarette and tobacco products
• Tea, coffee, cacao and salt products
• Drug and health products
• Yeasts (fresh and dry yeast, instant yeast)
• Meat and meat products(cattle, calf, sheep, poultry, chicken, fish and sea products)
• Others (baby food, agricultural pesticides, labels, etc.)
• Food - other industrial products (household appliances, textile products, ornaments, bottle and other industrial items)

Turkish packaging industry has developed rapidly and recorded an average growth by 10% annually in recent years. The most of the companies acting in this field generally consists of SMEs. The annual production is around 4, 5-5 million ton in the sector and the highest share of annual production belongs to paper, cardboard and corrugated cardboard products amounting to 1,7 million ton. This sub-sector is followed by plastic production with an annual production of 1, 5 million tone, glass production of 750 thousand ton and metal materials of 600 thousand ton and wooden products amounting to 500 thousand ton. The annual packaging consumption in Turkey per year is around 3,5 billion ton. 37%of the consumption consists of plastic, paper, cardboard and corrugated cardboard, whereas 22% of the production consists of metal packages, 13% consists of wood and 8% consist of glass packages. Besides the production and consumption, the sector is also developing rapidly in terms of quality standards, and the number of companies having ISO 9000, ISO 14001 and ISO 22000 quality certificates is also increasing rapidly. Concordantly, the sector achieved an average increase of 16% annually in exports. However despite the narrowing markets due to global crisis, the exports remained around 2 billion USD level in 2009. 7 Within the first 6 months of 2015, exports recorded an increase of 14% in quantity and was around 790600 ton, whereas the imports was around 924500 ton. During this first 6 months, sector achieved a surplus of 202 million USD in foreign trade. Within the first 6 months of 2015, the top 10 countries where exportation was made are : Germany • England • Iraq • France • Iran • Israel • Italy • Holland • Azerbaijan • Russia. In terms of types of package; bags and sacks recorded the highest increase by 32% in terms of quantity. Again, paper and cardboard packaging increased by 29% and plastic packaging materials increased by 9%. According to the material group in 2014, the distribution of production is as follows: Plastic Packaging (38%), Corrugated Cardboard Packaging(27%), Glass Packaging (15%), Wooden packaging (%7), Cardboard Packaging (%6), Metal Packaging (%5), Paper Packaging(2%).