The updated statistics published yesterday by the Turkish Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and and Climate Change suggests that the program yielded positive results in 2022.
According to Murat Kurum, Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, the program launched six years back, delivered huge success,with recycling recovery rate rising by 5% to 30% in 2022. The project has transformed 45.5 million tons of waste into valuable resources. The Ministry aims to increase the recycling recovery rate to 35% this year, he added.
The project was initially implemented in government offices and buildings. Several ministries became part of the project by sorting their waste at the source level. As per the latest figures, approximately 164,000 buildings and campuses are part of the project. The county’s recycling rate has increased significantly from 13% in 2017 to almost 30.13% in 2022. The project has successfully recycled 25.4 million tons of paper cardboard, 6.6 million tons of plastic, 2.6 million tons of glass, 0.7 million tons of metal, and 10.2 million tons of organic and recyclable wastes.
The Ministry has set a goal to bring the recycling rate to 35% by end-2023 and to 60% by 2035.
