Alliance Formed for "Zero Plastic Waste" in Oceans

Turkey to lead cleanup efforts in European seas

Rising pollution in seas brought countries from around the world together at the PolyTalk 2016 Conference under the theme "Zero Plastic in Seas". The conference on "Zero Plastic Waste in Oceans," hosted by PlasticsEurope and Turkish partner PAGEV, was held in Brussels on 16-17 March 2016. Deputy Minister of Environment and Urbanization T.C. Mehmet Ceylan and PAGEV Chairman Yavuz Eroğlu also attended the conference as speakers, where examples of work carried out globally and in Turkey for coastal cleanup were shared. In recent years, seas and oceans worldwide have been under threat due to pollution. Today, approximately 142 million tons of waste are found in seas and oceans, equivalent to 20 kg of waste per capita. While 10 million tons are added annually to this figure, 80 percent of the pollution is caused by terrestrial waste entering the seas. Seventy percent of the waste sinks to the sea floor, 15 percent washes ashore, and 15 percent floats on the surface. Research shows that marine waste moves by waves from one coast to another, from one country to another. Therefore, solving this problem is not something individual countries can handle alone. International cooperation is required. Among the waste, plastics rank first. Proceeding from this global issue, the European Union is following the matter closely and working with environmental organizations and industry to address it. Within the framework of these efforts, the PolyTalk 2016 Conference included "Zero Plastic Waste in Oceans" on this year's agenda. At the conference held in Brussels on 16-17 March, authorities from the European Union and Turkey met and determined steps to be taken for cleaning the world's coasts.

The "High-Level Panel on Regional Issues and Solutions" held on the first day of the conference was hosted by Deputy Minister of Environment and Urbanization T.C. Mehmet Ceylan. Deputy Minister Ceylan, attending the conference at PAGEV's special invitation, said in his remarks, "Marine waste spreads rapidly due to the effects of waves and water currents.

International cooperation is essential to solve this problem. As Turkey, we support both international agreements and activities such as "Happy Fish" implemented by PAGEV and similar civil society organizations domestically. Work is being conducted meticulously to prevent pollution before it occurs. A Marine Debris Action Plan has been prepared for Istanbul to effectively combat marine litter. It is planned that marine debris action plans will be prepared in all our provinces with coastlines by 2017. We are conducting all necessary work in this area," he said. Yavuz Eroğlu, Chairman of the Turkish Plastics Manufacturers Research, Development and Education Foundation, the umbrella organization of Turkey's plastics sector and a member of PlasticsEurope, spoke on the second day of the conference about the work carried out by PAGÇEV, which he launched with the mission of "responsible industry and clean environment," for the cleanup of sea coasts. PAGEV Chairman Yavuz Eroğlu, noting that the marine waste problem has reached serious proportions in Turkey, said: "Because three sides of our country are surrounded by seas, unfortunately we receive a large share of waste from other countries. For this reason, we believe that the sensitivity we must demonstrate regarding the cleaning of seas should be greater compared to other countries. Moreover, cleaning only a country's own coasts is not sufficient in such a situation. The reason is that 53 percent of the waste in Turkish seas comes from external sources. For example, waste entering the sea from irregular landfills on the Sidon coast of Lebanon threatens our Mediterranean coasts, waste from the Syrian city of Latakia threatens the coasts of Hatay's Samandağ, and waste coming with the Danube River threatens the Black Sea.

People thoughtlessly believe that the waste they leave in the seas will disappear. However, the large amount of waste discarded is broken down into smaller pieces by the effects of sun and waves, fish eat these micro particles, and we eat those fish. In other words, we are threatening not only the environment but also our own health," he said.

Explaining the root cause of this problem as countries lacking proper waste management systems, Yavuz Eroğlu said, "Seas are actually polluted not so much by garbage thrown into them, but by waste generated in our homes that is not properly separated and recycled but instead buried in irregular landfills. Moreover, these irregular sites where waste is buried are often located on sea coasts. Waves, floods, wind, sewage, rivers and groundwater carry garbage to the seas. Scientific studies show that more than 70 percent of waste in the seas is waste that reaches the sea from land. Plastic waste is also among this waste reaching the seas," he continued. PAGEV Chairman Eroğlu continued his remarks as follows: "The most concrete step to be taken for clean seas and a sustainable environment is the implementation of a proper waste management system and recycling of quality waste. In this direction, rehabilitating or closing uncontrolled landfills and ensuring that waste disposal sites are not located near sea coasts emerge as one of the most correct steps to be taken. Of course, the work does not end there. Actually, consumers have important responsibilities in waste management and recycling. Chief among these is source separation of waste. Collection of said separated waste with equal care by local authorities and the initiation of the recycling process is the ideal solution. To achieve this, we must move forward with our local authorities as soon as possible and accelerate our steps toward integrated waste management." "As PAGEV, the umbrella organization of Turkey's plastics sector, we are also conducting work on marine waste within the framework of our mission of 'responsible industry, clean environment'. One of our most important steps regarding marine waste has been the project we have been conducting as part of my WFO Turkey, Middle East and Africa Chairmanship, through which I have taken responsibility for cleaning the seas in 69 countries since 2012. Through this, we brought to Turkey the project launched by the Waste Free Oceans Foundation, which started in Europe and quickly spread worldwide, to reach waste-free seas, under the name "Happy Fish".

We carried out the first step of the project in Turkey at an event during the fishing ban period on Büyükada, collecting plastic and other packaging waste from the sea surface using a special net that does not harm fish. We carried out the second one in the Istanbul Strait.

Through "Happy Fish," we promote a method we call waste fishing to clean waste on the sea surface. Moreover, we carry out this cleanup not only for plastic waste but to collect all packaging waste. We carry out the recycling of collected waste through PAGÇEV, our authorized organization for packaging waste in Turkey. We also provide awareness-raising training in schools through PAGÇEV on source separation. As the plastics sector, we are trying to fulfill our responsibility for a clean and sustainable environment. With this project, while cleaning our seas, we aim to serve as an example to all sectors in recycling." Belgian Federal State Secretary Bart Tommelein mentioned in his remarks that they are working to prevent marine waste in the North Sea and announced that they will conduct coastal cleanup in the North Sea next week. European Commission Director-General for Environment Marianne Wenning said in her remarks, "The plastics industry has taken steps to solve the problem. We need to accelerate and increase these steps. We can particularly increase our cooperation through the circular economy package." Ellen MacArthur Foundation CEO Andrew Morlet, explaining that cooperation proportionate to the size of the problem is needed, said that this problem also contains great opportunities within the new plastics economy.