China was the favourite destination for European waste. But with new rules banning the waste operations coming from Europe, Turkey became the new favourite destination for European waste. That brings a lot of negative consequences, especially for health and the environment.
The top destination for plastic waste
After China’s waste import ban in 2017, Turkey received the vast majority of the European garbage than any other country. The main reason is that Europe decided to stop exporting plastic waste to many countries, in addition, they decided not to export to non-OECD nations. All that made Turkey the best place for European plastic waste. The imported European trash is supposed to be mostly recycled, but in reality, things are different. Turkey imports tons of illegal garbage from European countries for economic reasons. For the big part, the waste is mostly plastic. Plastic waste impacts negatively the local population.
The lobby of industry firms defends by saying that plastic waste is crucial for the local industry and the economy. But they ignore the environmental consequences. For example, some fires reported are linked to the incineration of plastic waste.
The health risks of the plastic incineration
Plastic waste and the incineration process kill many people. The fine particle pollution from fossil fuel burning is a deadly weapon to the local population. And besides, the micro-plastic problem is increasing in Turkey because of the amount of plastic waste.
European Union needs to stop producing plastic waste and export it to other countries like Turkey. Instead, the European Union and its members need to increase the recycling plastic.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6010324/
https://mikroplastik.org/en/etiket/sedat-gundogdu/
https://www.packaginginsights.com/news/liar-liar-plastic-on-fire-turkish-recyclers-discovered-arsoning-facilities-to-destroy-waste.html
