Turkish recycling plan to generate $600m per year

Turkey plans to recycle more than 25 billion beverage packages per year, adding around $600 million to its economy.

Plastic, glass and aluminium packaging with a “deposit-bearing packages” logo will be collected through the environment ministry’s deposit-return machines and recycled, state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

Pilot projects will be initiated in northwestern Turkey’s Sakarya province and the Kizilcahamam district of Ankara.

The initiative aims to increase recycling efficiency and reduce dependence on foreign sources of raw materials.

Recycling more than 25 billion beverage packages annually is expected to reduce pollution, protect natural resources and alleviate urban waste, the report said.

The Istanbul-based Zero Waste Foundation, chaired by Emine Erdoğan, Turkey’s first lady, is backing the deposit management system.

Further reading:

• Plastic’s lifeline for oil may fray under public pressure
• Oman set to start plastic recycling plant this year
• EU’s $323m grant to support Turkey’s green transition

The amount of plastic produced globally every year has soared over the past half century, from 15 million tonnes in 1964 to more than 300 million tonnes, AGBI reported in August 2022.

According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a charity that promotes the transition to a circular economy, packaging accounts for a quarter of the world’s plastics output, and about 40 percent is sent to landfills. 

Another 14 percent is incinerated, while 32 percent ends up in the natural environment. Less than 15 percent is collected for recycling.