Firm to build 566 mln lira paper plant

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Kipaş says it will collect waste paper from all over Turkey and recycle them. Hürriyet photo

Kipaş, a multi-sector company based in the southeastern province of Kahramanmaraş, has received a number of investment incentives for its 565.9 million Turkish Lira paper facility.

Some 1,500 tons of paper will be collected daily from all over the country, and the recycling plant will both contribute to a cleaner environment and produce 1,000 tons of paper, the company’s vice general coordinator Hacı Hüseyin Şerbetçi told the Daily News on the phone on Oct. 5. Kiptaş, also active in cement, energy, textiles and energy businesses, is already in the paper business with a packaging facility. The new plant, which will use up-to-date technology, will produce covers of packaging papers, according to Şerbetci, adding that they were expecting to export their goods.

The firm plans to finalize the 100 percent waste paper processing facility by December 2013. It will build up its own waste collecting network, helping to clean up waste paper across the country. The business is scheduled to employ 250 people. “This will encourage other businesses in the region,” Şerbetci said.

Asked whether the company was concerned about Turkey’s tensions with its southern neighbor Syria, the executive said: “What worries the whole country worries us too. No one wants war, but we will not be affected.”

According to data from the economy ministry, Kipaş’s plant is the largest investment from among the projects that were granted government incentives in August. Şerbetçi said a new incentive scheme, which generally promises the most to the southeastern and eastern provinces, encouraged them even more.

The firm will receive incentives in a number of fields including value added tax exemption, customs tax cut, insurance premiums and interest rate support. The company will import nearly 192.5 million liras worth of equipment for the plant, Anatolia news agency reported.