Waste - State and impacts (Turkey)

Main reason for taking different years as a base for presentation of the amount of different waste streams is that the inventory studies of a waste stream can be started after the publication of the releated By-law.

Municipal Waste:

The current status regarding the municipal waste amount produced in Turkey is estimated according to the outputs of the Solid Waste Master Plan (SWMP) study whose data is derived from the site studies as well as the expert opinions.

As a result of the SWMP study, the solid waste generation per capita are determined for the year 2006 and these determined numbers are compiled to 2008 according to the population data of each province in Turkey. According to that, the total amount of municipal waste collected in Turkey is 24.4 million tons per year in 2008, 12.7 million tons of waste was directly disposed of in landfills and 0.3 million tons were treated in composting facilities. The composition of municipal waste for 2008 taken from the SWMP study is given in Figure1

Figure 1: Composition of Municipal Waste (2008)

According to the municipal waste composition showing in Figure 1, the total amount of biodegradable waste (kitchen waste, garden waste, paper/cardboard) generated in Turkey is around 15 million ton per year.

The amount of municipal waste according to the disposal route in 2008 is given in Table 1 .

Table 1: Municipal Waste Disposal Route (2008)

            In the existing situation, as of 2008, there are a total number of 38 landfills for municipal waste in Turkey.

By 2008, there are 6 separate cells for medical waste with bottom liner prepared in accordance with the By-law on the Control of Hazardous Waste. Medical waste is buried in these cells with lime for sterilization purposes.

When population data are examined, it is seen from figure 2 that the ratio of the population benefiting from waste management services in accordance with the by-laws such as landfills and composting facilities is 44 % . 39 % of Turkish population has conection to waste disposal and recycling facilities and services.

            There are 4 operating composting facilities in Turkey. Their capacities and the amount of waste processed are given in Table 2.

Table 2: Composting Facilities

In Denizli the separeted waste is delivered to compost facility and in the other provinces the separation is done following the waste is taken by the facilities.

Packaging Waste

According to MoEF database, there were 930 packaging production facilities in 2005 and this number increased to 2,637 in 2006.

Facilities for Sorting and Recycling of Packaging Waste

The application of licensing the sorting and recycling facilities for packaging waste commenced initially in year 2003. The number of facilities licensed by the MoEF in the 6-year period between years 2003 and 2008 is listed in Table 3.

Table 3: Licensed Sorting and Recycling Facilities for Packaging Waste (2003-2008)

18 of the facilities which have obtained licenses are paper recycling facilities, 6 are glass recycling facilities, 55 are for recycling of plastic, 3 are engaged in recycling of metal, and 2 are for composite recycling.

Hazardous Wastes:

There exits 3 hazardous waste landfills in Turkey, which are İZAYDAŞ (İzmit Metropolitan Municipality, İzmit Waste and Residue Treatment and Incineration and Recycling Co. Inc.), ERDEMİR (Ereğli Iron and Steel Manufacturing Inc.),and İSKEN (İskenderun Energy Production and Trade Company). ERDEMİR and İSKEN store only their own waste as they do not accept waste from any other industry. It is only İZAYDAŞ that accepts waste from different industries all over the country. The total capacity of İZAYDAŞ is 790,000 m³, and its capacity utilization ratio as of 2007 was about 20% .

Facilities for Hazardous Waste Recovery:

In Table 4, number and capacity of hazardous waste recovery facilities are given for 2008.

Table 4: Number and Capacity of Hazardous Waste Recovery Facilities (2008)

According to 2008 data, 24 cement factories are licensed to utilize hazardous waste as alternative fuel for energy recovery.

Waste Oil:

The annual amount of mineral oil released into the market in Turkey is around 350,000 tons. It is estimated that the amount of waste mineral oil generated every year is approximately 150,000 tons. The total amount of waste oil registered in 2007 was 34,280 tons. The waste oil collected in 2007 in accordance with the by-law is about 20% of the total amount of waste oil generated in Turkey. An annual increase of 5% is anticipated in the amount of waste oil collected every year. Figure 3 shows the amount of mineral oil released into the market between 2004 and 2007, and the amounts of waste oil collected, recovered and disposed.

                       Figure 2: Annual Amount of Mineral Oils, Amounts of Waste Oil Collected,  

                                       Recovered and Disposed (tons/year)

Used Batteries and Accumulators:

The annual quantity of batteries released into the market in Turkey is around 10,000 tons, and that of accumulators is 74,000 tons. As a result of the inventory conducted within the framework of the by-law, the amount of used batteries recorded in 2007 was 200 tons whereas the amount of waste accumulators was 45,476 tons. The quantity of waste accumulators collected in 2007 in accordance with the by-law amounted to approximately 67% of the accumulators released into the market in Turkey; on the other hand, the quantity of used batteries collected in 2007 amounted to approximately 2% of the amount released into the market. In years 2006 and 2007, 229 tons/year of used batteries were collected according to the Separate Collection at Source implementation in accordance with the respective legislation.

Medical Waste:

According to data of year 2006 issued by the Ministry of Health (Statistical Yearbook of In-patient Healthcare Establishments, 2006), the total number of hospitals in Turkey is 1,204 and the number of active beds is 173,421. As a result of calculations made according to provinces considering the bed occupancy ratio, inpatient and outpatient healthcare establishments generate a daily amount of 250 tons and an annual amount of 91,323 tons of medical waste. Table 5 shows the total daily and annual amounts of medical waste emanating from in-patient and out-patient healthcare establishments in 2006.

As of September 2008, 12,681 tons of medical waste representing 14% of the total had been sterilized and thus rendered as harmless. Beside these plants, project preparation and licensing of facilities are still in progress in many provinces. There are 3 sterilization facilities with 13000 tonnes/year capacity which have started their processes in 2008 According to Municipality Waste Statistics 2008, 3153 tonnes of medical waste have been sterilized and 2688 tonnes of this sterilised waste has been delivered to landfills and 465 tonnes has been delivered to municipality waste area.

Table 5: Amount of Medical Waste (2006)

Vegetable Oil:

An increase in the amount of waste vegetable oil collected is anticipated together with the increase in the number of authorized organizations collecting these oils (Municipalities and initiatives). As of 2008, the number of organizations had risen to 8 and the number of vehicles used for this purpose increased to 124. The amount of waste vegetable oil collected from refineries in 2008 was 64,527 tons. The amount of frying oil collected from producers of waste oils such as houses, restaurants, canteens, etc. was 3,210 tons.

End of Life Tyres (ELT):

As stated in By-law on Control of End-of-life Tyres, MoEF is assigned and authorized with the development of management plans together with relevant parties and to enforce the producers to reach determined quota rate by transportation, recovery and disposal of ELT In Turkey, approximately 8 million units/year of tyre is produced. According to MoEF, the estimated amount of ELT is 284,800 ton/year. When considering the first year’s quota (30% of the total amount), the amount of ELT that producers have to collect is approximately 113,000 ton/year.

Facilities for End of Life Tyres (ELT) Recovery:

The total capacity of facilities recovering end of life tyres as granulated material is 61,000 ton/year. Moreover, the total capacity of 21 cement plants licensed for using ELT as alternative fuel for energy recovery is 130,000 ton/year.

Incineration Plants :

At present, there are 3 facilities used for incineration of waste licensed by MoEF. These facilities and their capacities are given in Table 6. The incineration capacities of these plants are design capacities, and their actual utilization ratio is about 80%.

Table 6: Incineration Plants in Operation (2008)