A Research on Turkish Packaging Industry in terms of Sustainability

ABSTRACT The concept of sustainability refers to sustainable development or sustainable life, whereas it is broadly acknowledged as being multidimensional. In the Bruntland Report it is defined, as “Sustainable Development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. Later on, during the environment and development conference (UNCED, The Earth Summit), organized by United Nations, significant decisions were taken and the terms “sustainable consumption” and “development” began to gain more importance. Within the scope of this study, the effects of the concept of sustainability on administrative decisions of companies and the subsequent effects of these decisions on sustainable product design are covered. The aim of this study includes “denoting important points to producers to consider during the design process of sustainable products and putting these points into use” and “building a sustainable model for product design which allows for the assessment of global energy consumption, labor costs, material consumption, product service systems and recycling actions”. With the case study carried out in packaging sector, the aim is to determine the effects of sustainable design criteria of packing products on the organizational structure of companies. For the analysis of selected evaluation units, in the life-cycle analysis phase, the sustainability of energy and materials are researched. This study was conducted with two members of Packaging Industries Association: Anadolu Glass Inc. and Plaş Plastics Inc in Turkey.