In the developed countries it seen that 55-65% of the waste is completely recycled and regained to the economy. The EU is planning to raise its goal on the subject of waste management up to 70-80% in several countries until 2020. Additionally, the EU is continuing its work to increase the share in the gdp from 0,75 % up to 1%.
But in Turkey, the existing recycling sector can make only use of a small amount of recyclable waste. A big amount of the recyclable waste is collected from the landfills and the streets under primitive and unhealthy conditions in our country and most part of this waste cannot be used, since it is mixed up with organic waste. The main condition for creating a healthier and more effective recycling system is to collect the waste in the sources, that means in the domiciles, workplaces, schools, hotels and holiday camps separated from the household waste.
In short;
- In the last years, over 170 million TL is contributed to the economy through recycling of waste.
- Around 300.000 tons packaging waste is recycled in Turkey
- In Turkey, around 65 tons of waste is produced every day. 15-20% of this waste consists of recyclable waste. The recycling of these wastes makes an important contribution to Turkey´s economy and protection of the environment.
- In the period of 2007-2010, 228 thousand tons of glass, 88 thousand tons of plastic, 275 thousand tons of paper carton and 240 thousand of composite packaging waste was recycled. While 835 thousand tons recycling was achieved, the contribution of this to the economy was around 170 Million TL