PAGEV

We are writing to you on behalf of Turkish Plastics Industry Foundation - PAGEV, the leading non-governmental organization of the Turkish plastics industry. PAGEV is an international organization that represents the plastics industry in Turkey and has been working since 1989, guided by its mission for a "Responsible Industry, Problem-Free Environment". PAGEV continues to work closely with all plastics institutions around the world, and also contributes to the cleaning of litter from the world's seas together with WFO Waste Free Oceans. Helping to grow the number of trained and qualified workers with the two vocational schools it has established, PAGEV also continues its pioneering work on environmental issues in order to leave a habitable world to future generations. 

We have regretfully observed that the newsreel that you recently published on Bloomberg channel and many different social media outlets was prepared with a false, wrong and exceedingly biased attitude. The allegations made in this news story are completely fictitious and contain false information which violates the Press code of ethics. The claim that the bags, which were tracked with chips, were thrown into a vacant lot in Adana, Turkey, is completely fabricated.

Waste materials can only be imported to Turkey pursuant to laws adopted in accordance with the framework of international standards implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, one of the competent authorities of the Republic of Turkey. On the same day that your fictitious news story appeared, officials from the Turkish Ministry carried out inspections on scene, and determined that the plastic materials were imported with all legal permits for recycling; they were licensed, documented and all inspections had been made.

The space you claim to be a vacant lot is not vacant, and it is not a lot. Rather, that area is the storage area of a licensed recycling facility operating at international standards that imports waste materials. We would also like to know more about your reasoning and information behind your conclusion that these waste materials were abandoned to nature. 

In your news, you say that the materials are going to an industrial area in Adana, in the South of Turkey. Making another fictitious allegation, you also stated that there was no recycling company in the vicinity. This is a completely fabricated claim. There are 6 recycling facilities in the region you mentioned. It is said that there were tons of European waste outside the facility's storage area. As determined in the inspections carried out by the Ministry at the facility, this is the storage area of the recycling company and the majority of the plastic waste materials stored and awaiting recycling are plastics collected from Turkey.

The claim that "The facility was not a recycling facility" is baseless. The facility the fully-licensed "IMO Plastic Recycling" facility. Reporting opinions from a distance rather than facts on site, your false news article continues to create a bad perception by saying "these plastics were probably stored here to be dumped someplace else".

Your baseless claims are aimed at completely discrediting the Turkish plastics and recycling industries, and we demand that you publish this article in the same way, together with an apology of your institution and your reporter serving the news as the basic international principles of journalism requires. We kindly request you to inform the public by publishing a correction regarding your unfounded, accusatory and defamatory news, without prejudice to our legal rights.