Türkiye Bans Import of Most Plastic Waste
Following Greenpeace investigation, Environment and Urbanisation Ministry bans imports of ethylene polymer plastic packaging waste commonly used in daily life.
According to a new report published by Greenpeace on Monday, approximately 40 percent of plastic waste from the United Kingdom was exported to Turkey last year and was collected and incinerated, though illegally.
The report states that the United Kingdom exported around 210,000 tonnes of plastic waste to Turkey in 2020. Rather than being recycled in Turkey, some of the waste was found through imagery to be dumped on roads, in fields and water sources and incinerated there.
Researchers examined 10 landfill sites in Adana for the report and found plastic bags belonging to supermarkets operating in the United Kingdom such as Tesco, Asda, Co-op, Aldi, Sainsbury's, Lidl and Marks & Spencer, as well as products from these companies.
Environment and Urbanisation Minister Murat Kurum announced that inspections were carried out at 152 facilities following the emergence of these images, operations at 29 businesses were halted and 32 businesses were fined TRY 8 million.
Kurum said, "Ethylene polymer plastic packaging waste, which now accounts for the largest share of plastic waste imports and is commonly used in daily life, will no longer be permitted to be imported."
The United Kingdom Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said in a statement on the matter that they are committed to recycling plastic waste domestically.
The ministry stated the following:
"We are committed to banning the export of plastic waste to non-OECD countries and restricting illegal waste exports through stricter controls - including countries such as Turkey."
After China, one of the world's largest plastic waste importers, banned garbage imports in 2017, Turkey became one of the countries with the highest import volumes.
In 2020, Turkey imported 20 times more plastic waste compared to 2016. The Greenpeace report warned that Turkey could become Europe's largest plastic waste garbage importer.
Meanwhile, according to Reuters reporting, Turkey is in discussions with German authorities regarding the return of 10,000 tonnes of waste that was sent for recycling but has been stranded at Turkish ports due to issues related to the closure of an intermediary Turkish firm.
Ömer Bulduk, a manager at Monax Global Logistics, which operates freight transport, says the containers must be returned to Germany under the 1989 Basel Convention because they contain hazardous chemical household waste.
Source: BBC
