Zero Waste Movement celebrates its 9th anniversary: ​​'It directs the world'

Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Kurum said, "The step taken 9 years ago directs the world today. The Zero Waste Movement, which started on September 27, 2017 under the auspices of Mrs. Emine Erdoğan, initiated a great transformation that changed our perspective on resources with the call 'don't throw away, recycle'." he said.

Minister Kurum shared a post about the 9th anniversary of the Zero Waste Movement on his social media account.

“THE STEP TAKEN 9 YEARS AGO GUIDES THE WORLD TODAY”

In his post, "The step taken 9 years ago directs the world today." Stating his statement, Kurum said:

"The Zero Waste Movement, which started on September 27, 2017 under the auspices of the Honorable First Lady Emine Erdoğan, initiated a major transformation that changed our perspective on resources with the call 'don't throw away, recycle'. Now, this understanding is being carried to the global climate struggle with Türkiye's COP31 Presidency. From 0 to COP31 for our common home, for our common future, for the world."

According to the statement made by the Ministry, the Zero Waste Movement, which was launched on September 27, 2017, 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, is celebrating its 9th anniversary.

This year, as Türkiye hosts the 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31) of the Framework Convention on Climate Change, the most important organization of the UN in combating climate change, the 9th year theme of the Zero Waste Movement was determined as "Together for the World from 0 to COP31".

Zero Waste Movement, which is among the 10 priority themes of the Action Agenda of COP31 to be held in Antalya and among the 2035 Global Implementation Goals, is expected to be an example to the world as a recycling and circular economy implementation project.

ZERO WASTE MOVEMENT

The Zero Waste Movement, which was launched on September 27, 2017 under the auspices of First Lady Erdoğan, has turned into an awareness project that grows with each passing year.

In the voting held at the UN General Assembly on December 14, 2022, with Türkiye as the main presenter and 105 countries as co-hosts, March 30 was accepted as 'International Zero Waste Day'.

First Lady Erdoğan made a speech at the special session on Zero Waste held on the margins of the 77th UN General Assembly, becoming the first Turkish spouse to address the assembly. On April 12, 2023, the "UN Zero Waste High-Level Personalities Advisory Board" was established. The advisory board, chaired by First Lady Erdoğan, included United Nations (UN) Deputy Secretary-General Guy Bernard Ryder, as well as 13 members from the USA, Sierra Leone, Chile, Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, the Netherlands, Morocco, Belgium and India.

President Erdoğan signed the "Global Zero Waste Goodwill Declaration" at the "Towards a Global Zero Waste Movement" event held at Türkevi under the leadership of First Lady Erdoğan within the scope of the 78th UN General Assembly meetings.

As of September 25, the website, which is available for signature online, has become a medium signed by more than 459 thousand Zero Waste volunteers from 136 countries. More than 50 spouses of leaders, high-ranking representatives of international organizations and foreign ministers also signed the Global Zero Waste Declaration of Goodwill.

RECOVERY RATE INCREASED TO 37.53

With the Zero Waste Movement, Türkiye has made savings in many areas, from the environment to energy, from greenhouse gas emissions to waste storage, and invested in both the economy and the future since 2017.

To date, Zero Waste Management System has been implemented in 220 thousand buildings and campuses and 28 million people have been trained.

The recovery rate, which was 13 percent in 2017, was increased every year, reaching 36.08 percent in 2024 and 37.53 percent in 2025. Türkiye aims to increase the recovery rate to 60 percent in 2035 and to 70 percent in 2053.

90 MILLION TONS OF WASTE WERE TRANSFORMED

In this context, a total of 90 million tons of recyclable waste, including 36.1 million tons of paper-cardboard, 10.2 million tons of plastic, 3.5 million tons of glass, 9.6 million tons of metal and 30.6 million tons of organic and other recoverable wastes, were processed and brought into the economy from the beginning of the project to the end of 2025.

From the collected waste, 270 billion kilowatt-hours of energy was saved, equivalent to the 1-year electricity needs of 54 million households, 2 trillion liters of water was saved, equivalent to the 2-year water consumption of Istanbul, 60 billion liters of oil was saved, equivalent to more than the 1-year fuel consumption of all vehicles in Türkiye, and a waste storage area the size of approximately 55 thousand football fields was saved.

Cutting down of 613 million trees, which corresponds to 7 percent of the forests in Türkiye, was prevented and 180 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to the annual carbon emissions of approximately 36 million vehicles, were prevented.

ZERO WASTE AWARENESS PROJECTS ARE INCREASING IN EVERY AREA

Zero Waste Blue, which was implemented for sea cleaning, the Zero Waste Movement, strengthened by the Deposit Packaging System (DOA), which enables the collection and reuse of beverage packaging, and the Zero Waste Foundation, which was established in 2023 and whose Honorary President is Emine Erdoğan, is implementing many national and international projects.

Under the coordination of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, new projects are being implemented in 81 provinces with ministries and municipalities, especially the Ministry of National Education, Ministry of Family and Social Services, Ministry of Youth and Sports, Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

To date, many projects have been implemented to raise social awareness, especially among children and young people, in cooperation with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), TRT, Turkish Red Crescent, Tema Foundation, Turkish Basketball Federation and Turkish Football Federation.