In this context, 26 companies operating in Turkey have joined the Business World Plastic Initiative, established to combat plastic pollution. TÜSİAD Chairman Simone Kaslowski stated, "Climate change causes nearly $500 billion in annual damage to the global economy. Eight million tons of plastic waste are dumped into the oceans every year. More plastic than what is used in Turkey is discharged into the oceans. This is a horrifying situation."

400 MILLION TONS OF WASTE

Levent Çakıroğlu, CEO of Koç Holding, emphasized that the Koç Group views economic and social development as a whole. He pointed out that more than half of the plastic threatening the world and human health has been produced in the last 20 years, saying: "Nearly 400 million tons of plastic are produced worldwide each year. More than half of this production consists of single-use plastics that are used for only a few minutes. It takes centuries for these plastics to disappear from nature. Three out of every four plastics ever produced are waste contributing to pollution. As the Koç Group, we are committed to ending single-use plastic consumption by the end of 2020, but we see this as just the beginning."

The companies that have joined the Business World Plastic Initiative and committed to declaring their plastic commitments by 2021 as part of the initiative are as follows: "Akkök Holding, Anadolu Efes, Anadolu Group, Coca Cola İçecek, Deloitte, Eczacıbaşı Holding, Elif Plastik, Garanti BBVA, Gürallar, IC Holding, Kibar Holding, Koç Holding, Liman Holding, Migros, Nestle, Sütaş, Unilever Turkey, Organik Kimya, P&G, Sabancı Holding, Sunar, Yaşar Holding, Yıldız Holding, Zorlu Holding, Pepsico, WPP." 

Source: Hürriyet