Turkish parliament's Zero Waste initiative prevents emissions

The Turkish Parliament's waste recovery initiatives have successfully averted 17 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions while conserving 4 billion tonnes of water and saving 530,000 kilowatt-hours of energy last year.

Data from the parliament's general secretariat revealed that the parliament recycled 105 tonnes of paper, 2 tonnes of plastic, 3 tonnes of glass, 1,000 kilograms of metal, 600 kilograms of organic waste, 4,250 litres of vegetable oil waste and 1,500 litres of waste motor oil last year.

The cutting of 1,768 trees was prevented last year, by recycling 105 tonnes of paper, the data shows. Through recycling 2 tonnes of plastic, 33 barrels of oil were saved.

Hard work pays back

The recycling of 3 tonnes of glass in Parliament saw the conservation of 3.6 tonnes of raw materials, while the recycling of 1,000 kilograms of metal resulted in the preservation of 1.3 tonnes of raw materials.

By recycling 1,500 liters of waste engine oil, 1,093 liters of mineral oil were recovered.

A total of 600 kilograms of organic waste was converted into 120 kilograms of compost for use as a soil improver in gardens and potted plants.

By recycling 4,250 litres of waste vegetable oil, 4,040 litres of biodiesel were produced.

In 2017, under the auspices of the first lady Emine Erdogan, Türkiye launched a Zero Waste project to highlight the importance of eliminating waste in fighting the climate crisis.

In 2022, the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution on the zero-waste initiative presented by Türkiye, declaring March 30 as International Day of Zero Waste.