Şişecam Celebrates 90 Years of Progress

Şişecam, founded in 1935 by Türkiye İş Bankası under the founding vision and signature of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk to meet the country's urgent glass needs, is celebrating its 90th anniversary. In its development journey that began with 400 employees, Şişecam continues to grow with 45 production facilities across 4 continents and over 24,000 employees.

In the early years of the Republic, Şişecam, one of the most important steps in Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's plans to create a self-sufficient country and national glass industry, is celebrating its 90th anniversary.

Şişecam General Director Görkem Elverici stated the following regarding the 90th anniversary: "With our 90-year-old deep-rooted heritage, drawing inspiration from our Founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's Republic vision, we continue to strengthen our leadership in our sectors. With our global culture where people from 35 different nationalities work and 23 different languages are spoken, we create value for our entire ecosystem. Through our investments in glass and chemicals, the advanced technologies we use and our strong R&D efforts, we rank among the world's largest producers in our sectors. The successes we have achieved on this journey were made possible by the contributions of each of our employees, customers, suppliers, shareholders, stakeholders and business partners. As a company that carefully shapes not only today but also its future, Şişecam will continue to overcome all challenges and move forward with the goal of sustainable growth and value creation."

Today, Şişecam is the only global company operating in all basic areas of glass; it is the world leader in glass tableware and chromium chemicals, ranks among the top five producers in flat glass and glass packaging, and is one of the world's two largest producers of soda ash.

Strengthened by competent human resources, strategic partnerships, advanced R&D efforts and innovative technologies, Şişecam is moving forward with confident steps toward its goal of becoming one of the top three global players in its main business areas by creating differentiation through value-added products, drawing confidence from its 90-year-old deep-rooted heritage.

Şişecam's 90-Year History
•    By Cabinet decision, Atatürk entrusted Türkiye İş Bankası with the task of establishing the Turkish glass industry.
•    The foundation of Paşabahçe Bottle and Glass Factory was laid on 14 August 1934 with a ceremony attended by Prime Minister İsmet İnönü.
•    Paşabahçe Factory conducted its first production on 4 July 1935 with 400 employees.
•    The factory was officially opened on 29 November 1935 by Prime Minister İsmet İnönü of that period.
•    In 1961, Paşabahçe received its first export request from the United States. The first products were sent to the USA by sea within a month.
•    Şişecam began flat glass production in Turkey in 1959, glass packaging production in 1967. Soda Sanayi A.Ş. was established in 1969.
•    In 1976, it established Turkey's first corporate R&D center.
•    Şişecam was listed on the Istanbul Stock Exchange on 13 January 1986.
•    It made its first investment outside Turkey in 1997 in Georgia in the glass packaging sector.
•    In the first half of the 2000s, it grew with investments in Egypt, Bulgaria, Russia and Italy.
•    In 2011, it launched the Glass Becomes Glass project, one of Turkey's most comprehensive sustainability and corporate social responsibility projects, to promote glass recycling.
•    In the same year, it transferred Mersin Tarsus Organized Industrial Zone Technical and Industrial Vocational High School, one of the finest examples of education-industry collaboration, to education. In 2019, Şişecam completed the construction of Şişecam Yenişehir Technical and Vocational Anatolian High School and transferred it to the Ministry of National Education. In its 90th year, Şişecam will continue to support education through new school projects in Lüleburgaz and Tarsus.
•    In 2017, it implemented its sustainability vision under the name CareforNext.
•    In the second half of the 2000s, it continued its investments in Italy, India, Hungary, Slovakia, Egypt and Romania, as well as Turkey.
•    In 2019, it made its first production investment in the Americas in the soda ash sector.
•    In 2020, on its 85th anniversary, it consolidated all its operations under the "One Şişecam" umbrella.
•    In 2024, it launched the Plant of the Future platform, calling on all stakeholders to shape future production technologies.
•    In the same year, it acquired full stakes in the US soda ash operations it was a partner in. With this strategic move, it took another step closer to world leadership in soda ash and natural soda ash sectors.