Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

In his speech at the signing ceremony, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Today, worldwide, the concept of ‘waste’ is rapidly turning into a strategic resource. For example, over 1 million tons of carbon emissions can be reduced annually through plastic recycling alone. Recycling glass waste reduces energy consumption by up to 30 percent, while minimizing the need for new resources. These figures show that it is an opportunity for our economy as well as contributing to the protection of our environment.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu said: “As TOBB, we have been closely following the work on the deposit management system for about 4 years. The most important stakeholders of this system, from the plastics, glass and packaging sectors to the retail and recycling sector, are represented under the roof of our Union. In this process, we held many meetings with our Environment Agency and all relevant sectors. The common demand of all our stakeholders was that the site management be carried out in an effective and transparent manner in cooperation with the public-private sector. The protocol we will sign here today shows that these demands have been met and that we have taken a strong step together. With the establishment of the deposit system, we will see significant changes in our economy.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “An analysis reveals that the system can recycle 500,000 tons of waste per year when it operates at full capacity. This is a huge gain in both environmental and economic terms. In addition, the system will reduce the carbon footprint of our industry and provide significant savings in energy and raw material use. At this point, we consider it critical for the success of the system to benefit from the experience of our retail and beverage sectors in operational processes in the field.”

- Minister Murat Kurum

Murat Kurum, Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, said, “We have started the necessary infrastructure work for the Deposit Management System, which will bring 520 million euros of profit to our country every year and will be the most valuable step of the Zero Waste Project led by the Honorable Mrs. Emine Erdoğan.”

The Turkish Environment Agency (TUÇA) of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change is launching the Deposit Management System. The Deposit Site Management System (DSYS) will first be launched in Sakarya. The DSYS, which will be the new step of the Zero Waste Movement, will spread across Türkiye by the end of the year.

With the participation of Murat Kurum, Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB) and the Confederation of Turkish Tradesmen and Craftsmen (TESK) signed a “Cooperation Protocol on the Establishment and Operation of the Deposit Field Management System” for the system. With the protocol signed at the TOBB Social Facilities, field operations such as collection and transportation of packages from deposit return points, verification and recovery of packages will be managed under a single roof.

Speaking at the ceremony, Minister Kurum said, “Approximately 30-35 million tons of solid waste is generated in our country every year. Beverage packaging accounts for 20-25 percent of this waste by volume. We have established the Turkish Environment Agency to manage this serious figure in the most accurate way. We have started the necessary infrastructure work for the Deposit Management System, which will bring 520 million euros of profit to our country every year and will be the most valuable step of the Zero Waste Project led by the Honorable Mrs. Emine Erdoğan.”