Turkey’s waste management reached a certain level, which allows supposing that the country is able to achieve zero waste by 2023. New solutions on transportation, security and waste management will help to reach that aim, Turkey’s first lady said on Friday.
Turkey’s first lady attended at Kartepe Summit themed “Urbanization and Happy Cities” in the northwestern Kocaeli province. In her speech, Emine Erdogan stressed the importance of the reasonable waste management strategy that could allow to significantly decrease CO2 emissions level.
Waste management is exposed to has been one of the main concerns of people from the past to the present. Turkey inclines to fulfil its promises to decarbonize the economy, so, waste management has become one of the most important problems with the rise of migration to the Turkish cities.
Speaking at the “Urbanization and Happy Cities” summit, Mrs Erdogan stressed that research shows that in 2050, the amount of plastics swimming in the oceans will exceed that of the fish.
“I’m afraid the 21st century will pass into history as the ‘plastic era’, instead of the technology or the information era,” she said.
Since 2017, Turkey to pursue the goals of Zero Waste Project
Turkey’s Environment and Urban Planning Ministry launched Zero Waste Project in 2017, with the support of the first lady.
“Initially, our public buildings are included in the system,” she said.
Erdogan said their target was 100% zero waste to achieve by 2023, and also referred to the zero-waste-city Kamikatsu in Japan, as an example.
“Our cities should also become cities that can exist with renewable energy sources with minimum consumption. We are no stranger to this. Didn’t we have a culture of saving in the past, when organic wastes turned into fertilizers and string bags were used instead of plastic bags” the first lady stressed.
Mrs Erdogan also said that everything starts at homes, Turkish schools should raise the awareness of children to keep Earth safe place for generations to come.
