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Solid Waste Management

Project Policy and Legal Background

After the recognition of Türkiye as a candidate country at the Helsinki European Council of December 1999, important progress has been achieved within the framework of the Accession Partnership (AP) and the National Programme for the Adoption of Acquis (NPAA). In December 2004 the Brussels European Council determined that Türkiye sufficiently fulfills the Copenhagen political criteria, and negotiations with Türkiye on its accession to the EU begun immediately after the Council approved the relevant framework for negotiations on October 2005. Thus, pre-accession assistance has been made available to Türkiye under the Financial Co-operation Program, whole rules have been set out by the Council Regulation (EC) No 2500/2001 concerning Pre-Accession Financial Assistance for Türkiye.

The European Commission has issued the “Council Regulation establishing an Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA I)”, the IPA I Regulation on 2007, for the period of 2007-2013, and its successor the IPA II for the period of 2014-2020. The purpose of the Regulations is to provide financial assistance with the purpose of streamlining the pre-accession assistance under a single framework and support the beneficiaries to implement the necessary political and economic reforms, preparing them for the rights and obligations that come with the EU membership.

The IPA II is the main financial instrument for providing EU support in implementing reforms to move towards EU membership. Financial assistance under IPA II is given for the following four specific objectives: (a) support for political reforms, (b) support for economic, social and territorial development, (c) strengthening the ability of the beneficiary country to fulfil the (future) obligations stemming from membership in the EU by supporting progressive alignment with the Union acquis, (d) strengthening regional integration and territorial cooperation. Furthermore, the IPA II Regulation requires financial assistance to focus on five policy areas, including the Environment Sector, which is addressed under the Component III - Regional Development of the Regulation. The main document of this new period indicating the financing priorities of assistance under IPA is the Indicative Strategy Paper for Türkiye (2014-2020), which was adopted by the Commission on August 2014. The total allocation for Türkiye under IPA II for 7 years amounts to 4.453,9 MEUR, as stated in the Country Strategy Paper and 644.6 MEUR of this amount is allocated for “Environment and climate action”.

In this context, a prioritization study was prepared for the Municipalities in Türkiyeaccording to the urgency of the needs related to environmental infrastructure investments for the IPA I and IPA II periods. Since this time, environmental infrastructure investments in Türkiye which are co-funded by European Union (EU), have been supplied by operational programs Environment Operational Programme for 2007-2013 (EOP), and Sectoral Operational Programme Environment and Climate Action 2014-2020.

Concerning the waste management, the Environment Operational Programme for 2007-2013 stated that the “Improvement of recycling and disposal of waste, reducing solid waste loads and closing and rehabilitating old dumpsites” constitutes a priority, and approximately 28.2% of the total budget of the the program has been devoted to this priority axis. The improvement of the integrated solid waste management aims to:

  • provide efficient and sustainable solid waste management services to the population,
  • provide affordable solid waste management services to the population,
  • establish environmentally friendly integrated solid waste management models,
  • close old dumpsites and to rehabilitate contaminated sites.

The Commission Implementing Decision C (2014) 9575 of 11.12.2014 adopted the Multi-Annual Action Programme for Türkiye on Environment and Climate Action. In the scope of the Financing Agreement on Environment and Climate Action of the IPA II first period of 2014- 2016, the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization  (MoEUCC) with the participation of related institutions and bodies prepared the The Environment and Climate Action Sectoral Operational Programme (ESOP), published in the Official Gazette on 16 April 2016. The general objective of the program is to improve the quality of environmental protection and life of citizens by addressing the fight against climate change better and by harmonizing the EU with the environmental and climatic action. Hakkari Integrated Solid Waste Management Project is in the indicative list of major projects in the ESOP.

The Integrated Solid Waste Management in the Hakkâri Municipalities and Special Provincial Administration Solid Waste Management Union project package is aiming at contributing to Türkiye’s fulfilment of the EU environmental acquis.

Waste Management in Türkiye

Resources such as water, energy, land, and forests constitute the foundations of world economies and the livelihood of many people in Türkiye and across the world depend on them. Türkiye’s greenhouse gas emissions doubled over the last decade. At the same time, the country is located in one of the most vulnerable regions as for the impact of climate change. Therefore, in Türkiye even more than in other places, timely and ambitious climate action is necessary to achieve a competitive, resource-efficient, and low-carbon economy, and a resilient society

In Türkiye, uncontrolled and unsafe dumping of solid waste tends to be common practice. Existing dump sites generate severe risks for the environment and public health because they are often located close to residential areas, or are polluting drinking water sources. Consequently, the implementation of integrated waste management services at the regional level is considered to be a major priority on which urgent remedial action is required.

Despite improvements in recent years in terms of awareness and investments in the field of Solid Waste Management, major challenges still remain. Establishment of an integrated waste management system comprising a central landfill site for a union of municipalities is one of the main targets for solid waste management, which is also supported by waste reduction at source, reuse and recycling, composting to reduce the waste going to the landfill site. Necessary actions includes the planning of waste services, collection, transfer, recycling and biological treatment (composting), possible interim storage and disposal of waste as well as the operation of handling and treatment facilities, in both industrialized and highly populated areas, as required by law. Additionally, the re-assessment of the existing dump sites in terms of location, design, monitoring and maintenance is eminent in order to close or remediate those not meeting the national or EU standards. In this way, the risks to the environment and public health will be either eliminated or significantly minimized.

In 2017, National Solid Waste Management and Action Plan was published by Ministry of Environment and Urbanization  (MoEUCC)  which covers the period of 2016-2023.In this plan, current situation of solid waste management in Türkiye was analysed, and separate collection at source, recycling and disposal methods, population and waste projections, planned solid waste management investments and financing needs until 2023 were assessed.

Türkiye’s other main environment strategies are:

  • Strategic Plan 2013-2017: for the Strategic Environmental Assessment study and implementation in all sectors.
  • National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan 2007-2017 for nature conservation.
  • National Climate Change Strategy 2010-2020
  • National Climate Change Action Plan 2011 -23 for climate change mitigation and adaptation.