The Zero Waste Project is an environmental movement set out to reduce waste generation, prevent waste, collect and recycle waste separately at the source, save raw materials and energy, and leave a clean and developed Türkiye as well as a livable world to future generations.

The project, the implementations of which were initiated in 2017, was adopted as a national policy by being incorporated into the Environment Law in 2018, in line with Türkiye's EU Circular Economy targets. With the amendment made in the Environment Law in 2018, important regulations were introduced for the transition to the circular economy, such as national waste management practices. With this amendment made in the Environmental Law, visionary projects such as the Zero Waste Management System, pricing of plastic bags, recycling participation fee applications and deposit return system applications were included in the legislation, and an important step was taken toward the transformation of the Zero Waste Project into a zero waste policy. In January 2019, plastic bags started to be charged.

In the Zero Waste Regulation published in July of the same year, general principles regarding the establishment, dissemination, development, monitoring, financing, recording and certification of the zero waste system were determined. Again in December 2019, the Regulation on Recovery Contribution Share was published. With these regulations, successful applications have been realized and serious environmental and economic gains have been achieved. For example, 75% fewer plastic bags were used in 2020. Thus, greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 8,300 tons. From the start of the Zero Waste Project until September 2021, energy savings equivalent to the monthly consumption of 1.5 million families have been achieved. Approximately 24.2 tons of waste was brought into the economy.

The Deposit Management System is a method used for certain beverage packaging in the world. Although there are many other methods applied in the world for the collection of such packages in a clean and good quality way, it is the most effective of these methods and is applied in approximately 40 countries for beverage packages. It is currently being carried out at the national level in 10 European countries. Preparations are underway in 11 countries for the system to be implemented in 2022 or 2023.

The system is generally preferred in Europe for the fulfillment of extended producer responsibility. In this context, the supporting legislation is the directive on Reducing the Impact of Plastic Products on the Environment. In the said directive, there are provisions regarding the separate collection of beverage packages up to 3 liters (101.44 ounces) at a rate of 77% until 2025 and 90% until 2029. Preparations have also begun for the implementation of the deposit system, which is implemented by certain countries in the world and provides high-efficiency recovery rates. With the Packaging Waste Control Regulation published in June 2021, procedures and principles were determined for the management of packaging and packaging wastes within the framework of the deposit management system and zero waste management system, based on the principles of circular economy and resource efficiency. Nearly 50 billion disposable beverage packages are put on the market in Türkiye. Although beverage packaging constitutes 4-5% of our domestic waste by weight, it corresponds to 20-25% by volume, and it constitutes a very large part of the waste that is frequently encountered, especially in the seas, in our forests, in parks and streets.

Preparations are underway to establish a new deposit system for packaged beverages in order to eliminate the environmental risks arising from beverage packages made of plastic, glass and aluminum, which is the most visible and diffuse environmental problem in our daily lives, and to evaluate these materials as an economic resource.

Two-stage system

In general, the deposit system to be brought in for beverage packaging is a two-stage material management system based on delivering the products to the consumers with certain criteria and receiving the deposit fee, and taking back the empty packages from consumers and returning the deposit price. This system is based on the principle of circular economy, which envisages that the products are collected back into production as raw materials before they become waste as a result of their consumption.

In the first phase of the transition to the deposit system in Türkiye, it is aimed to start with approximately 25 billion glass, plastic (PET) and aluminum beverage packages. With the application, it is aimed to increase the targeted recycling rate for glass, PET and aluminum bottles to 90%. This increase in recycling rates will bring important environmental and economic gains. The benefits of the system become more understandable when the gains we will achieve with the application of the deposit system for beverage packaging are scaled in terms of their impact on daily life.

The deposit system is an effective management model that involves many stakeholders and includes them in the cycle. Therefore, with the initiation of these practices, citizens will be included in the waste management process, while the clean packaging waste will be collected in a controlled manner without being contaminated with other waste. By collecting clean materials, an approximately 40% reduction in dependency on imports will be achieved and qualified recycled material will be obtained. In addition, simple physical recycling will pave the way for the production of new beverage packaging from waste beverage packaging in accordance with the standards of the Turkish Food Codex and closed system recycling – which is one of the most important principles of the circular economy – will be possible.

Currently, a beverage package needs to undergo chemical processes in order to be reused as beverage packaging, and this process requires almost as much energy and water as primary raw materials, while it also costly in terms of economy. In addition to the savings from not using primary raw materials with the deposit system, the reduction in the waste management costs of municipalities and the fact that recycling materials are not sent to landfills will also make significant economic contributions.

According to the analysis based on the positive effects of the deposit system on the environment, it is estimated that an additional economic benefit of 98.3 million euros per year will be provided in the first year the system is planned to be implemented. The highest share in this benefit is the reduction in waste disposal costs of local governments with approximately 71 million euros, while the lowest share belongs to the storage of recycling materials with approximately 0.7 million euros. The implementation of the deposit system is expected to provide additional employment for more than 20,000 citizens with a total contribution of around 6 billion euros to the national economy in 20 years.

Therefore, with the deposit system, benefits such as improvements in performance, cost and efficiency in municipal waste management practices, reduction in the use of natural resources and the need for imported raw materials, and improvement in the amount, quality and economic value of secondary raw materials with cleanly collected empty packaging will be provided. Within the existing waste collection system, environmental and economic risks arising from not collecting wastes, especially outside the large and developed metropolitan city centers, will decrease, while society's waste disposal behavior will be prevented and direct participation in waste separation and collection systems will be ensured. New business opportunities and employment potential will be created through the stakeholders who will take part in the deposit system as well.

Consumption of single-use packaged beverages is offered to consumers at sales points such as kiosks, grocery stores and markets at a rate of 60%, while a portion of 40% is offered to consumers in on-site consumption areas such as hotels, restaurants and cafeterias. The design of the system is made by taking this special situation into account and considering the sensitivity that traditional sales points consist of grocery stores, kiosks and supermarket branches. Likewise, the sensitivity of demand decline due to the administrative burden and the increase in the prices of their products for most of the companies and importers that put packaged beverages on the market is also taken into account.

Contribution to U.N. goals

It should also be noted that with the implementation of the deposit system, six of the United Nations Development Program's (UNDP) Sustainable Development Goals can be achieved. These objectives are Decent Work and Economic Growth; Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure; Responsible Production and Consumption; Climate Action; Aquatic Life; and Terrestrial Life. The setup and operation of the system is carried out in a standard flow chart all over the world, and the operating parameters vary according to country conditions. The system will also be established and managed under national conditions. In July 2019, the Turkish Deposit Return System Project (TUDIS) was initiated under the leadership of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change in order to conduct technical, administrative and financial feasibility studies to establish a country-specific system model. One of the most important steps toward the establishment and implementation of the deposit system was taken in December 2020 and the Turkish Environment Agency (TÜÇA) was established with the reformist updates made in the Environmental Law. TÜÇA is authorized to establish, implement and monitor the deposit system infrastructure by determining the liabilities, administrative regulations and measures regarding the deposit system applications and carrying out the registration, authorization, permit and approval procedures for the deposit management system and the necessary controls.

In the Packaging Waste Control Regulation published on June 26, 2021, provisions regarding the management of packaging wastes in the system within the deposit system are included.

With the Turkish Environment Agency, which was established with the aim of contributing to environmental management practices as a new and dynamic force, activities will be carried out on the establishment, implementation and development of deposit and zero waste systems, as well as the recovery of recyclable products after their use, and the management of recyclable wastes. In line with the zero waste target, the transition to the mandatory deposit system will make a significant contribution to the protection of the environment, prevention of raw material waste, reduction of carbon emissions, and increase of energy efficiency in production and logistics, which has been initiated as of Jan. 1 as specified in the Environment Law. The system registration procedures for those who put them on the market, who will be among the important stakeholders, have been made. In order to establish a sustainable, traceable, auditable and improvable system, pilot-scale projects are planned to be implemented before the returnable beverage packaging starts to be put on the market, and at the first stage, pilot applications have been started in the main service building of the ministry and in Ankara's Kızılcahamam district.

The Turkish Environment Agency will keep the environment more at the center of life with the activities it will carry out in order to create awareness and sensitivity in the public by taking into account the social, economic and geographical conditions in seven regions of the country and will guide individual responsibilities in the recycling of wastes by changing the throwaway behavior. While picnic and recreation areas; parks, gardens and forests; the coast, village and bays; countryside, plains, villages and towns; and other parts of the country will be cleansed from plastic bags, the environment and economy will be improved by clearing all over the country from beverage packaging waste as well.

Due to the fact that it differs from other countries using this system, especially European countries, in terms of country population, socioeconomic and cultural characteristics, and geographical structure, the conditions in Türkiye were taken into account while designing the deposit system, and a business model specific to Türkiye was studied.

25 billion packages

The deposit system project is an application with a Central Management Model that will cover approximately 25 billion packages per year and serve more than 80 million citizens, as well as having direct contact with more than 300,000 markets/sales points and more than 3,000 manufacturers. It is an application based on regional and local operations to be carried out over more than 20,000 return points that will be operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week in 81 provinces and all districts.

The starting point for the deposit system, which enables material management in a secure, controlled and sustainable cycle, is to determine the national standards for the packages to be included in this system and to ensure that each of these packages is recorded over a central online data system. In addition, traceability will be ensured by adding a special security element to the packages included in the deposit system.

The production of the packages included in the deposit system in accordance with the new standards, including the special security element, and the implementation of the test and registration procedures of these packages and their registration will be carried out under the collaboration between the Turkish Environment Agency and the General Directorate of Mint and Stamp Printing.

With the transition to 2023, the packages that are more environmentally friendly and with special signs (deposit sign and logo containing special ink and a security layer, zero waste sign and logo "with deposit") are recorded and delivered to citizens with a deposit fee. It will be ensured that the system works in a sustainable cycle by monitoring it over the online data system by providing the infrastructure for the return of the deposit fees and recycling of the packages. It is thought that the pilot applications initiated in the main service building of the ministry and in the Kızılcahamam district of Ankara will be a significant guide in order to ensure that the system, which will be established and managed by the Turkish Environment Agency, is suitable for both the country's conditions and the social structure, and the zero waste perspective.

With the transition to 2023, the testing and preparation process will have started so that the national-scale application will spread all over the country. By the end of 2023, it will be possible to establish deposit return points, at least 7,000 points open to public access throughout the country, and to make transactions with at least 2,000 deposit return machines at these points. In 2024, the number of deposit return points will be increased to a total of 20,000, of which at least 10,000 points will be deposit return machines. With the deposit return points to be established, the easy accessibility, awareness, acceptance and sustainability of the deposit system will be ensured by the citizens, and service provider units will be established for small-scale grocery stores and kiosks, canteens and cafes without incurring additional costs.

In 2023, besides the establishment of deposit return points and the activities to explain, introduce and familiarize the citizens with the deposit system, activities aimed at training and preparing the workforce required for the operation of these points will have started. In 2023, with the direct participation of citizens in the system, we will begin to see that wastes such as glass bottles, plastic bottles and aluminum cans start disappearing in the seas, forests, parks and gardens.

*Deputy Minister of the Republic of Türkiye's Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, and chief climate change envoy

**Director of Deposit Management System of the Turkish Environment Agency