Single-Use Plastic Bans: What's Changing in Türkiye and the EU?

The European Union, through the directive it adopted in 2019, banned or strictly restricted the placing on the market of certain single-use plastic products — such as plastic cutlery, plates, straws, cotton buds and expanded polystyrene (EPS/styrofoam) food and beverage containers — across its 27 member states. The directive entered into force in 2021.

The Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change is preparing a similar regulation, in line with the EU directive and as part of the Zero Waste Movement. According to drafts that have become public, the placing on the market of products such as plastic cutlery, plates, straws, cotton buds and EPS foam food containers is expected to be banned, with wood, paper/cardboard or glass alternatives taking their place.

Since the exact effective date and scope of such regulations can change, it is best to follow the official announcements of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change for the current status.

These regulations target single-use, short-lived consumer products — the PP/PE raw materials in our catalog are used in much broader applications, mostly outside this scope, such as pipes, packaging film, yarn/fiber and durable injection-molded parts. Still, we recommend that our customers who manufacture single-use packaging closely follow these regulations.