OUR GENERAL MANAGER SEMİH OZBAY TALKS ABOUT EKOMAT

Park Cam General Manager Semih Özbay was on air at the program ‘60 minutes’ with Zeliha Saraç on Bloomberg HT. The agenda of the live broadcast program was “Glass Recycling and Ekomat Project”.

Participating to the program with GCA General Manager Abdullah Gayret, our General Manager Semih Özbay talked about the importance of recycling. Semih Özbay pointed out how necessary it was for the economy and the environment to reuse existing products without using natural resources, and said, “Reusing paper, plastic, metal and glass is recycling. We need to use natural resources less. We are reducing the use of natural resources by recycling. We are saving energy. We are emitting less carbon. Instead of tons of waste going to waste, we are bringing these products back to the economy.”

Pointing out that glass packaging is more special than other packaging, Semih Özbay said “Glass is a healthy packaging. It is a safe packaging. It is 100 percent recyclable. The taste and odor of the food and drinks you put in the glass does not change. Glass packaging is unquestionably safe.”

THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF RECYCLING

Explaining that as Ciner Group, they pay attention to sustainability in all investments, our General Manager Özbay stated that they are producing glass packaging in the most natural way in Bozüyük, and they are using natural soda ash. Saying that they established BIRCAM in 2017 to make up for the deficiency of the waste bottles collection after consumption, Semih Özbay said, “By establishing this foundation with the largest producers, we aimed to collect glass waste. As GCA, Park Cam and BIRCAM, we have launched EKOMAT waste collection machines in this regard. With these machines, we aim to collect glass packages and bring the collected waste back into production. Our citizens will download a mobile application specially prepared for this. They will collect money points for the bottle they throw into the machine. With these points, they will be able to shop at the markets. Even game coins for children will be able to collected. The whole project, including its software, is completely domestic. We aim to make it a better project than similar applications in Europe.”

Semih Özbay continued: “In this machine, not only glass but also plastic and metal packages will be collected. How many bottles are thrown into the piggy bank will be tracked by a computerized system. The bottles placed will be turned into cullet and accumulated in the piggy bank. Glasses thrown into the piggy bank will be automatically sorted in the machine according to their colors, brands and structures. When it reaches the occupancy level of 80-90 percent, the truck will go to the machine and pick up the cullet. Trucks coming to pick up the cullet will also be powered by electric. In this way, we will keep our carbon footprint at minimum levels. This is also the digital transformation of recycling. In this system, we will also collect data. We will be able to see how much glass waste we collect monthly and annually in this region. In addition, these collected data will be shared with the Environment Agency.”

Semih Özbay pointed out that local governments that collect waste concentrate on paper, plastic and metal packaging and went on saying these expressions: “Municipalities do not collect glass waste. It can’t keep on like this. Glass waste needs to be collected more. Consumers, too, must feel bitter when throwing away the glass packaging. Because this is also a very valuable raw material.”

90 PERCENT OF GLASS PACKAGING END UP IN WASTE

GCA General Manager Abdullah Gayret said on this issue: “1.5 million tons of glass packaging and 8 billion glass bottles are produced annually in Turkey. More than 90 percent of the products end up in waste. This waste cannot be recycled. That’s why we use natural resources for production, we are forced to import. These wastes should be brought into the circular economy. We could save millions of dollars if the waste glass packaging is returned to the economy. We aim to collect these glass wastes with Ekomat.”