The Silivri landfill in Turkey is singled out as the largest source of methane emissions

Silivri has long been a popular summer destination for Istanbulites. The coastal municipality is located approximately seven kilometers from Turkey's largest city and is known for its yogurt festival, its fertile landscape and its prison, among other things.

Now the area is also being noticed for its large climate footprint.

The Silivri landfill is Turkey's largest source of so-called super-emissions of methane, according to an analysis by the "Stop Methane" research and analysis initiative at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).

UCLA has used satellite data from the non-governmental organization Carbon Mapper to map the largest methane emission sites in Turkey between January 1, 2025 and June 1, 2026. It has identified ten sites that are linked to 70 emission plumes. Three of them are located near Istanbul. Others are located near the capital Ankara and tourist resorts such as Antalya.

Usually, a landfill releases a few tens of kilos of methane per hour. The waste facilities on the list are said to emit much more – on average between 841 kilograms and around 7.4 tons of methane per hour.

The top figure of 7.4 tonnes comes from the Silivri landfill. Such an emission is equivalent to that of approximately 1.5 million SUVs with their engines running at high speed, according to The Guardian.

Besides, it stinks. The newspaper has been on site at the facility and talked to local residents who confirm it.

- The smell is not exactly discreet. It suffocates you, says a man.

The new analysis comes about a month before Turkey hosts the UN climate summit COP31. The purpose is to highlight the emission locations and help operators and regulatory authorities to identify where they should try to reduce emissions in the near term. Responsible actors include both municipal authorities and their companies as well as privately owned companies, according to UCLA.

Istanbul's metropolitan municipal waste company, İSTAÇ, works with the waste facility in Silivri. After seeing satellite images of methane plumes from the site, several of the employees were surprised, according to The Guardian.

- It is inevitable that this happens... of course we have to make improvements, says employee Fatih Arslan to the newspaper.

At the same time as Turkey emits large amounts of methane, the country's first lady, Emine Erdoğan, has long pushed the issue of zero waste and global measures against methane emissions. Even President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said that waste management is a priority before COP31.