19.02.2020 Istanbul

Zero Waste

The concept of Zero Waste entered our lives in July last year when the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization of the Republic of Turkey started to implement it within its own structure and the Zero Waste Regulation was included in the Environmental Legislation. In Europe, in 2018, it approved the new Waste law to prevent waste and increase recycling with the slogan “Waste no more”.
With the development of technology and the increase in the need for disposable materials, waste generation has increased inexorably. Last year, 7. Images of an island called the continent (the size of 5 Turkey) and formed by plastic waste in the Pacific ocean were reflected on the screens.
It was foreseen years ago that it would be a solution to the raw material needs in many sectors with the correct management of wastes and that it would benefit the country’s economy in energy production, and it has started to be implemented by many countries with today’s technologies. The first stage of managing waste is to separate the waste at its source and transfer it to the right waste facility.
NOTE: According to the Waste Management Regulation, the 2019 Waste declaration period expires at the end of March.

According to Turkish Legislation;
The Zero Waste Regulation has determined the implementation schedule for the establishment of the Zero Waste Management System. It is planned that all Organized Industrial Zones, Airports, Shopping Malls, Educational Institutions, Fuel Stations, Health institutions and Business Centers will gradually switch to the management system, which is primarily planned to be passed by Public Institutions and Municipalities. The deadline specified by the Regulation for Fuel Stations is December 31, 2020.
For other facilities and institutions, the dates determined by capacity are December 31, 2020, 2021 and 2022 in stages.
Facilities and institutions that establish the Zero Waste Management System are examined on-site by the members of the Commission and as a result of the scoring, they are entitled to receive a Silver, Gold or Platinum zero waste certificate.

The situation in Europe;
In Europe, 16 tons of material are currently used, which becomes 6 tons of waste per year. In 2010, the total waste generation in the EU amounted to 2.5 billion tonnes. 36% of these wastes were recycled and the rest was landfilled or incinerated. In other words, about 600 million tons of 2.5 billion tons of waste were recycled or reused.
With the new Waste Law that entered into force on 4 July 2018, the EU has given member states 24 months to improve their waste management.
EU countries will now be required to recycle at least 55% of their municipal waste by 2025, 60% by 2030 and 65% by 2035.