Turkey: Newly Launched Bottle Deposit Scheme Boosts Plastics Recycling

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Turkish municipality announced the launch of a new recycling pilot project to promote recycling of plastic bottles and cans. As per the scheme, official administration unveiled vending machines at three metro stations, where people could drop used plastic bottles and cans in return for credit on public transport ticket card.

Officials intend to expand the scheme by installing vending machines in more locations across the city. The pilot has resulted in substantial reduction of plastic litter. It is believed to help Turkey achieve its target to recycle at least 35% of all waste to be recycled by the end of next five years.

As per estimates, the country produces approximately 31 million tonnes of waste per annum, out of which only around 3.4 million tonnes are recycled. The primary pollutants include plastics, metals and glass. Out of the list of 180 top polluters of environment recently published by the Yale Center of Environmental Law and Policy, Turkey is ranked 108^th.

The Turkish administration has already imposed mandatory charges on single-use plastic bags starting January 2019. This move will lead to significant reduction in plastic bag usage. Estimates indicate that average Turkish citizen consumes approximately 440 plastic bags every year.

The Ministry of Environment and Urbanization plans to introduce several green policies in future in order to ensure that waste is separated at source for better processing of the same. Also, it aims to expand the recycling infrastructure to boost recycling of plastics, metals and glasses.