The 13th Turktay Symposium brought together the stakeholders of many industries once again. This year, the theme of the symposium was “Financing of Raw Material and Energy Production from Waste and its Impact on Climate on the 100th Anniversary of our Republic”. Public institutions, representatives of different sectors, and scientists who have carried out important studies in their field shared the common problems encountered along with their proposed solutions. Our Vice Chairman Mr. Ömer Faruk Mekik was also a guest as a panelist in the session on Import and Export of Waste and Raw Materials Obtained from Waste.

In the final declaration, the following articles were emphasized:

Türkiye’s waste inventory should be created and updated periodically. A strong coordination is needed both for the supply of critical raw materials from waste recycling as needed by industrialists, and for a healthy waste management process that directly affects areas such as health, energy, defense industry, education, economy and current account deficit. Türkiye needs to quickly create critical and strategic raw material lists, and micro policies need to be maintained in harmony with macro policies.

Green growth oriented economic policies are reshaped in our country and around the globe. For them to be successful, it is necessary to revolutionize financial policies in waste management. Being successful in waste management and recycling fields, the magnitude of which is expressed in billions, depends on financing and transferring the relevant funds to the right investments. An investment environment should be prepared, especially for the recycling of domestic waste into industry and the economy, and this issue should be resolved quickly. Studies on separate collection of waste at the source should be accelerated, taking into account the zero-waste perspective and the carbon neutral targets of 2035 and 2053.

Individual criteria for waste management facilities should be determined depending on the type of waste, and inspections should be carried out with precision. Import of waste raw materials by facilities that meet developed country facility standards should be facilitated. Controlled import of certain wastes should be possible in line with the capacity of the facilities, the added value created and the export potential. Controlled imports should be allowed for material recovery facilities of waste types that cannot currently be supplied domestically and therefore cause the waste facilities to operate at low capacity, and imported waste should be reduced according to the domestic collection rate.

Increase with the use of recycled raw materials in the manufacture of exported products will create a competitive advantage. Considering that quotas for the use of recycled materials may be established for the exported products in the coming periods, domestic waste processing facilities must be established at appropriate standards and existing enterprises must be improved and operated.

High technology investments, energy efficiency practices and incentives should be expanded in the waste management and recycling sector.

Critical raw materials that can be obtained from wastes, especially electronic and domestic waste, should be identified and technologies for converting them into raw materials should be developed.

In order for all these issues to be resolved efficiently and quickly; there is need for very close communication and cooperation between the public authority and the relevant industries. The Turkish Environment Agency needs to urgently establish and activate its infrastructure for inspections with an effectively independent perspective. In addition, continuity, unity of practice, institutional memory, determination and consistency are extremely important and necessary for Türkiye to achieve its macro goals.