Suver: Economic impact of Türkiye's Zero Waste project exceeds 365B liras

Türkiye's Zero Waste project has generated 365 billion liras in benefits for the country's economy.

Report informs that Hasan Suver, Deputy Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change of Türkiye, said this at the event "Closing the Loop: The Economic Impact of Waste Management" held as part of the 13th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13).

According to Suver, unmanaged waste creates both environmental and serious social risks, especially in vulnerable urban areas.

"Waste that cannot be collected regularly and is dumped uncontrollably increases methane emissions, accelerating climate change and causing water and soil pollution. At the same time, low-income groups and vulnerable communities are more negatively affected by these consequences due to health problems and unequal access to services. Türkiye places the waste hierarchy and circular economy principles at the center of its policy," he said.

He noted that the main priority under the "zero waste" approach is to prevent waste before it is generated and to return generated waste to the economy through reuse and recycling.

"The Zero Waste project, launched in 2017, has already become a global environmental movement," he said.

Suver also shared the project's achievements and statistics.

"Our recycling rate, which stood at 13% in 2017, has gradually increased to 37.53% as of 2025. The target is to raise this figure to 60% in 2035 and 70% in 2053. So far, 28 million people have received special training to turn zero waste into a way of life. From the launch of the project until the end of 2025, a total of 90 million tons of waste - including 36.1 million tons of paper and cardboard, 10.2 million tons of plastic, 3.5 million tons of glass, 9.6 million tons of metal, and 30.6 million tons of organic and other recyclable waste - has been processed by enterprises licensed by our ministry and returned to the economy," he said.

According to the ministry official, recycling the collected waste has brought 365 billion Turkish liras in benefits to the country's economy, saved 2,700 billion kilowatt-hours of energy - equivalent to the annual electricity needs of 54 million households - and saved 2 trillion liters of water, equivalent to Istanbul's two-year water consumption.

"Türkiye has saved 60 billion liters of oil, more than the annual fuel consumption of all cars in the country, and prevented an area roughly the size of 55,000 football fields from being turned into landfill. In addition, the cutting of 613 million trees, equivalent to 17% of Türkiye's forests, has been prevented, and 180 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to the annual carbon emissions of around 36 million cars, have been avoided," he said.