Türkiye’s Zero Waste Movement turns nine as Antalya prepares to host COP31

Türkiye’s Zero Waste Movement marked its ninth anniversary on 27 September, and this year the date carried extra weight. The country will host the UN climate conference, COP31, in the southern city of Antalya from 9 to 20 November, and zero waste is one of the themes it has put on the summit’s agenda.

The anniversary is being marked under the theme “Together for the World, from Zero to COP31,” according to a report by Anadolu Agency carried by Daily Sabah.

From a 2017 project to a national programme

The movement was launched in 2017 under the auspices of first lady Emine Erdoğan and is coordinated by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change. Its core idea is to separate waste where it is produced so that more of it can be recycled.

According to the figures reported by Anadolu, the programme now covers 220,000 buildings and facilities, and 28 million people have received zero-waste training. The national recycling rate is reported to have risen from 13% in 2017 to 37.53% in 2025. The government’s stated aim is 60% by 2035 and 70% by 2053.

What the ministry says has been recovered

The ministry says 90 million tons of recyclable waste was brought back into the economy between the project’s launch and the end of 2025. Paper and cardboard made up the largest share, at 36.1 million tons, followed by 10.2 million tons of plastic.

By the ministry’s own figures, the recovered material contributed TL 365 billion ($7.46 billion) to the economy. It also reports around 180 million tons of avoided greenhouse gas emissions. These are official estimates that Watan News could not independently verify.

The Zero Waste Blue initiative, launched in 2019 to tackle marine litter, has collected around 375,000 tons of waste as of September, according to the same report. Türkiye’s deposit return system for drinks containers has taken back more than 326 million PET, aluminium and glass containers and has 3.3 million registered users, as of 25 September.

The ministry is also preparing new regulations to phase out single-use plastic products, the report said. No timetable or details have been made public.

Waste on the COP31 agenda

The anniversary follows a presentation last week at a UN event in New York, where Environment Minister Murat Kurum, who serves as COP31 president, set out the summit’s action agenda. Reuters reported on 22 September that the agenda covers 10 themes, including zero waste and methane reduction. Its 2035 targets include cutting projected increases in municipal waste by half and raising the global circular-material-use rate to at least 15%.

“For us, implementation is not simply announcing more commitments, but turning existing commitments into measurable results on the ground,” Kurum said, according to Reuters.

Under an arrangement agreed for this COP, Türkiye holds the presidency and leads the action agenda, while Australia leads the formal negotiations.

A movement with a UN profile

In December 2022 the UN General Assembly adopted a Türkiye-led resolution declaring 30 March the International Day of Zero Waste. A UN high-level advisory board on zero waste, chaired by Emine Erdoğan, was set up in April 2023. A Global Zero Waste Goodwill Declaration has been signed by more than 459,000 volunteers from 136 countries, according to the report.

Whether other governments take up those waste targets will be one of the things to watch in Antalya.

FAQs

What is Türkiye’s Zero Waste Movement?

A national programme launched in 2017 under Emine Erdoğan’s auspices and run by the environment ministry to promote waste separation and recycling.

Why is it linked to COP31?

As host, Türkiye has made zero waste and methane reduction one of the 10 themes of the summit’s action agenda.

Have the recycling figures been independently checked?

Not by Watan News. They are official ministry estimates, as reported by Anadolu Agency.

Sources

• Daily Sabah (with Anadolu Agency), “Türkiye’s Zero Waste Movement enters 9th year with COP31 in focus”, 27 September 2026: https://www.dailysabah.com/turkiye/turkiyes-zero-waste-movement-enters-9th-year-with-cop31-in-focus/news
• Reuters, “Turkey’s COP31 President lays out summit’s agenda at UN”, 22 September 2026: https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/cop/turkeys-cop31-president-lays-out-summits-agenda-un-2026-09-22/