According to the written statement made by the Ministry, the Zero Waste Project, initiated under the auspices of Emine Erdoğan, wife of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, will also leave its mark on the 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31) of the United Nations (UN) Framework Convention on Climate Change.
At COP31, the world's most important climate summit to be held in Antalya, hosted by Türkiye, Zero Waste will constitute one of Türkiye's 10 priority action agenda topics and one of the implementation targets it presents to the world for 2035. Zero Waste will add experience to every point of the COP31 area.
The five-leaf and 10 thousand square meter Time Tunnel in the Blue Zone, where world leaders will discuss the future of the climate, was organized as a Zero Waste Museum by the Zero Waste Foundation.
In the Green Zone, through the Zero Waste Application and Workshop Center, practical information on waste reduction, separation, reuse and circular economy processes will be provided, especially to children and young people. This approach will also be carried beyond the conference area. Solak Village, Demirciler Village and Ormana Village will be among the Zero Waste application areas within the scope of the "Zero Waste Village" approach.
The 2 thousand square meter Türkiye Pavilion was designed as a national showcase presenting Türkiye's climate policies, Zero Waste vision, energy transformation and sustainable urbanization practices to the international public. The aim of the Türkiye Pavilion is not only to explain policies and goals, but also to show the world the applications, technologies and solution models implemented in different cities and sectors of Turkey.
COP31 President and Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Murat Kurum, in his post on his social media account about Solak Village, which has been transformed into a Zero Waste village, said, "It is a village like a flower. In the Zero Waste Village, everything transforms for the future, becomes friendly to nature, and increases labor and hope. Those who come to Antalya for COP31, do not leave without seeing Solak Village." He included his statements.
Emine Bulut, owner of a wood workshop in Solak Village, whose views were included in the statement, said, "Everything from A to Z has been thought of and everything has been wonderful. You should be here for our future, you should see this place. I invite you all here to leave a beautiful world to our future and our children. I invite you to support the Zero Waste Project." he said.
Mehmet Çom, who runs a coffee shop in the village, said, "COP is a great blessing for us. It has become a village like a flower. They made our village like a flower." shared his opinion.
Headman of Solak Village Ümit Karataş stated that there have been great changes since the compost machine was installed and added:
"We are now evaluating our food waste. We collect it and give it to the compost machine. The people have also started to become conscious. We actually did not expect such a thing. Our village people are also very happy. They also plan themselves according to Zero Waste. Even garbage will not come out of the village like before. We, as adults, have become conscious, we want to teach our children what we have learned and leave a cleaner, better generation."
Gökhan Burhan, branch manager at the Zero Waste Management Department, said about what was done in Solak Village: "Solak Zero Waste Village is not just a village that lives within the scope of COP31. We tried to build it as a village that continues after the conference and can be an example to our other regions and an example to the world." he said.
