What happened
Türkiye’s Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change Ministry has used the ninth anniversary of the Zero Waste programme to connect the initiative with COP31. The programme began on 27 September 2017 under the patronage of Emine Erdoğan and is coordinated by the ministry.
The ministry said COP31 will take place in Antalya and that this year’s anniversary theme is built around the link between Zero Waste and the conference. It described recycling and circular-economy delivery as one of 10 priority areas in the COP31 action agenda.
According to ministry figures, 220,000 buildings and campuses have adopted the Zero Waste management system, and 28 million people have received training. The reported recovery rate increased from 13% in 2017 to 36.08% in 2024 and 37.53% in 2025.
The ministry said that, from the programme’s launch to the end of 2025, 90 million tonnes of recoverable materials had been processed. This total includes 36.1 million tonnes of paper and cardboard, 10.2 million tonnes of plastic, 3.5 million tonnes of glass, 9.6 million tonnes of metal, and 30.6 million tonnes of organic and other recoverable waste.
Why it matters
The announcement places waste management, recycling and circular-economy practices within Türkiye’s COP31 agenda. For organisations operating facilities covered by Zero Waste systems, the figures indicate the scale of the national programme and its longer-term direction.
No new business obligation, fee or compliance deadline was set out in the ministry announcement. However, the ministry has set recovery-rate goals of 60% for 2035 and 70% for 2053, which frame the intended trajectory for waste recovery.
Background
Türkiye led a United Nations General Assembly resolution adopted on 14 December 2022 that designated 30 March as International Zero Waste Day. The ministry also said a United Nations High-Level Advisory Board on Zero Waste was established on 12 April 2023, chaired by Emine Erdoğan.
The COP31 agenda’s Zero Waste and methane-reduction goal seeks to halve the growth in waste generation worldwide by 2035, according to the ministry.
What's next
The Zero Waste programme’s immediate policy milestones are its 2035 and 2053 recovery-rate targets. The ministry has positioned the programme as part of the COP31 action agenda planned for Antalya.
