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Turkish Industry Minister: We need to invest more in recycling in the textile industry

Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank stated that more importance should be given to recycling in order for Turkey to maintain its competitiveness in textiles. Minister Varank said, “If we want to keep Turkey competitive in the textile industry, we need to invest more in these areas. There are people who view fabric or other waste as garbage. At the point we have arrived, no waste is garbage anymore. It is possible to reuse all waste as raw materials.” .

Visiting the Turkaylar Tekstil factory, which produces yarn from recycled materials in the Leather Mixed Organized Industrial Zone as part of the Usak program, Varank received information about the facility, which produces yarn with a monthly capacity of 200 tons in an area of 10 thousand square meters and exports 30% of its products.

Making a statement to the AA correspondent here, Varank said that Usak is one of the provinces that has made a great contribution to the country’s economy with the acceleration it has gained in the field of industry recently.

Stating that the city also comes to the fore with its facilities related to the production of yarn from waste, Varank said, “As you know, sustainability, circular economy, and the EU are among the areas that the world attaches most importance to. It is no longer enough just to produce, how the products are produced, your respect for the environment and how much you benefit from recycling are the issues that all companies look at. In this sense, Turkey is really successful in manufacturing yarn with recycling. Usak is one of our most prominent cities.”

Explaining that a t-shirt that has expired is now turned into yarn instead of being garbage, and that it returns to the consumer as a garment, Varank noted that they will support the circular economy and manufacturing from this type of recycling, especially with the signing of the Paris Climate Agreement.

Stating that Usak has become one of the leading recycling yarn production centers not only in Turkey but also in the world, Varank said, “Here, they feed the textile industry to a large extent with the yarn obtained from their waste. Currently, many brands no longer put products that do not use recycled yarn on their shelves. In this sense, if we want to keep Turkey competitive in the textile sector, we need to invest more in these areas. I was really impressed with the facility we visited today.”

“EVALUATION OF FABRIC WASTE IS VERY IMPORTANT”

Noting that there is a misconception about recycling facilities in the public, Varank continued his words as follows:

“There are people who view fabric or other waste as garbage. There are people who consider them as garbage due to environmental concerns. At the point we have arrived at, no waste is garbage. It is possible to reuse all waste as raw material. Our factories in Usak can turn a piece of fabric into yarn. We believe it is more valuable to support this circular economy with environmental concerns. It is actually a great injustice to our companies and our economy to show the facilities that produce from recycling as producing from garbage. Let them come and see the best example of the circular economy in Usak.”

500 THOUSAND TONS OF RECYCLING FIBER A YEAR

In Usak, where more than 100 large and small facilities operate in the recycling of textile waste, an average of 1700 tons of waste is processed per day and approximately 500 thousand tons of fiber is produced annually.

The facilities in the city, which exported approximately $90 million of recycled products to 62 countries last year, make a significant contribution to the country’s economy through recycling.

Source: Sabah / Translated by Irem Yildiz

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