Why Turkey should not import plastic waste pollution from developed countries?

Gündoğdu S., Walker T. R.

Marine Pollution Bulletin, cilt.171, sa.112772, ss.1-4, 2021 (SCI-Expanded)

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 171 Sayı: 112772
  • Basım Tarihi: 2021
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112772
  • Dergi Adı: Marine Pollution Bulletin
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, PASCAL, Aerospace Database, Aquatic Science & Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA), Artic & Antarctic Regions, BIOSIS, CAB Abstracts, Chemical Abstracts Core, Chimica, Communication Abstracts, Compendex, EMBASE, Environment Index, Geobase, MEDLINE, Metadex, Pollution Abstracts, Veterinary Science Database, Civil Engineering Abstracts
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1-4
  • Çukurova Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Turkey became a major importer of global plastic waste after China banned plastic imports on January 1, 2018. Turkey imported only 261,864 tonnes of plastic waste annually before the ban, but annual imports increased to 772,831 tonnes by 2020. Turkey recently implemented restrictions on importing plastic waste (quotas, %1 contamination limit, banned mixed plastic waste imports), yet illegal dumping and burning is widely reported. Turkey ranks second in Europe and seventh worldwide for plastics production, yet current domestic waste management and recycling programs cannot handle domestic plastic waste generation. Roughly 90% of municipal solid waste produced in Turkey ends up in landfills. Plastic waste mismanagement results in plastic leakage into the Mediterranean Sea with Turkey contributing the highest share (16.8%) of European marine plastic pollution. With this latest import restriction, Turkey now has an opportunity to strengthen and improve its own domestic waste management infrastructure to reduce indiscriminate plastic marine pollution.