The 9th anniversary of the Zero Waste Movement, which is carried out under the auspices of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's wife Emine Erdoğan and under the coordination of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, will be celebrated with the theme "Together for the World from 0 to COP31".
The movement, which was launched on September 27, 2017, spread internationally with the slogan "The World is Our Common Home". This year's theme was determined due to Türkiye hosting COP31 to be held in Antalya. Zero Waste is among the 10 priority action topics of COP31.
COP31 President and Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Murat Kurum announced that, within the scope of "Zero Waste and methane reduction", it is aimed to reduce the increase in waste production worldwide by half by 2035.
According to the data provided by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change; From the beginning of the project to the end of 2025, 90 million tons of waste was recycled, contributing 365 billion TL to the economy. Of this amount, 36.1 million tons was paper and cardboard, 10.2 million tons was plastic, 3.5 million tons was glass, 9.6 million tons was metal, and 30.6 million tons was organic and other recyclable waste.
The recovery rate, which was 13 percent in 2017, increased to 37.53 percent in 2025. This rate is aimed to be increased to 60 percent in 2035 and 70 percent in 2053. To date, Zero Waste Management Systems have been installed in 220 thousand buildings and campuses, and 28 million people have been trained.
Thanks to recycling efforts, 270 billion kilowatt-hours of energy, 2 trillion liters of water and 60 billion liters of oil were saved. In addition, 613 million trees were prevented from being cut down and 180 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions were prevented.
With Türkiye's initiative, the UN General Assembly declared March 30 as "International Zero Waste Day" in 2022. In 2023, the UN Zero Waste Advisory Board was established under the chairmanship of Emine Erdoğan. More than 459 thousand people from 136 countries have signed the Global Zero Waste Goodwill Declaration as of September 25. More than 50 spouses of leaders, as well as high-ranking representatives of international organizations and foreign ministers, also supported the declaration. The project has been deemed worthy of 7 international awards to date.
Within the scope of Zero Waste Blue, which was launched in 2019, marine garbage collection and awareness activities are carried out in 28 coastal provinces. As of September 2026, approximately 375 thousand tons of marine litter have been collected. With the cleaning project launched on September 8 in Fethiye Bay, it is planned to remove approximately 16.3 million cubic meters of bottom mud in three years. In order to protect the sea meadows, eyebolt and buoy systems that can serve a total of 856 boats in 17 bays in Göcek were created.
Within the scope of COP31, Zero Waste Villages are being created in three neighborhoods in Antalya's Aksu, Manavgat and İbradı districts. Model practices for reuse, recycling and evaluation of organic waste will be implemented in these villages.
