The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB, Ankara / Turkey; www.tobb.org.tr) has set up a new legal entity that encompasses the country's plastics, rubber and composites activities. The Plastics Rubber and Composites Sector Assembly held its first meeting in May, and elected Yavuz Eroglu, chairman of the Turkish plastics industry foundation Pagev (Istanbul; www.pagev.org.tr), as its first chairperson. Enver Bakioglu of the Flexible Packaging Industrialists Association (FASD, Ankara; www.fasd.org.tr) will serve as his deputy.

The sector assembly is currently made up of 40 members, including government representatives, non-governmental associations like Pagev, as well as a range of companies. Together, they account for USD 10 bn of turnover in the three areas of focus – plastics, rubber and composites – and have a combined size of USD 50 bn. Upon his nomination, Eroglu said, “This new entity within TOBB provides a more cohesive platform founded on a legal framework…Our objectives are to identify issues in the industry, facilitate dialogue between the government and private sector representatives for solution alternatives, and generate more value for the Turkish economy overall.”

The Pagev chairman added that the plastics, rubber and composites industries are key drivers propelling growth in the Turkish economy. According to figures published by PlasticsEurope (Brussels / Belgium; www.plasticseurope.org), in 2014 Turkey was the main destination for European plastics exports and at the same time one of the top five exporters of plastics goods (see Plasteurope.com of 26.11.2015).

Turkey’s largest petrochemical player, Petkim (Aliaga; www.petkim.com.tr), is among the sector assembly’s members, as are glass fibre manufacturer Cam Elyaf (Cayirova / Turkey; www.camelyaf.com), PET supplier Köksan (Gaziantep; www.koksan.com), building materials group Pakpen (Istanbul; www.pakpen.com.tr), and film producer Polibak Plastik Film (Izmir; www.polibak.com.tr), to name just a few.