Waste - Why care? (Turkey)

Solid Waste Management plays a crucial role in terms of community health and protecting the environment and is vitally important for the country. Increasing solid waste volumes due to population growth, technological development, industrialisation and urbanisation have become a major environmental problem.

In Turkey, the most common method of waste disposal, especially for municipal waste, is landfilling. This necessitates all existing landfills for waste and the other installations for waste disposal to be adapted in compliance with the national legislation or to be closed and replaced by new installations and facilities.

The environmental legislation in Turkey are mainly based on Article 56 of the Constitution, which relates directly to the environment and, indirectly, of various other articles of the same.

In addition to the 1982 Constitution, other main legislations are Environmental Law No:2872, related by-laws and other legal arrangements.

And also, according to the aim of By-law on the Control of Solid Waste  is to prohibit discharge into the receiving environment, direct or indirect, of waste and residues of all kinds in a manner which will harm the environment, as well as storage, transportation, disposal of the above and similar activities, to bring a certain discipline to the management of consumer materials which could harm the environment, to prevent pollutants manifesting a lasting effect in the air, soil and water from adversely affecting future generations of animals and plants, natural wealth and the ecological balance, and to determine, implement and develop principles, policies and programmes directed to this end.