Türkiye’s zero waste campaign has gained more recognition since it was launched in 2017 but recycling sometimes may lag. Incentives seek to draw more people to join the scheme. In İlkadım, a town in the northern province of Samsun, the municipality found a new way to collect waste and give something back in return.
Two buses that have been painted green and converted into collection trucks go from neighborhood to neighborhood in the town, for people too occupied or without a way to send their separate waste to disposal facilities. For every recycling donation, locals are entitled to an “allowance” as the municipality calls it. For each kilogram (2.2 pounds) of plastic and carton waste, the municipality pays 16 cents (TL 3) while a kilogram of glass bottles can be exchanged for TL 0.10. For every kilogram of large tin cans, the municipality pays TL 10 while one kilogram of discarded books is purchased for TL 2.
The municipal staff in the bus weigh the waste and immediately pay the locals while every month, 50 people are chosen from among those selling their waste and are eligible for a draw to win a TL 500 shopping check.
Since the buses hit the road in September, more than 77,000 people brought their waste and were paid TL 320,200 in total. The municipality managed to recycle more than 167,000 kilograms of waste so far.
The town's mayor Necattin Demirtaş told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Sunday that they were looking to reach a 90% rate in recycling in the town. “We are not at that level but I have high hopes,” he said. He said they were also placing recycling bins in neighborhoods. “We want people to have the awareness of separating their waste at its source. Our country has serious losses due to a lack of recycling. Every paper waste we collect, for instance, helps us to save the forests and plastic waste finds new life as new products,” he said.
Merve Vural, who won a shopping check, says she earns “money to give away to my children,” as she hands over plastic bottles, cooking oil, and cartons to the bus.
