“Assessment of Economic Instruments used in Integrated Waste Management Workshop” was held within the scope of Technical Assistance for Assessment of Türkiye’s Potential on Transition to Circular Economy (DEEP Project) carried out by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change to encourage Türkiye's transition to a circular economy and to strengthen Türkiye's institutional and technical capacity in transition to a circular economy in line with the EU Circular Economy Model. The workshop was held in Ankara on 29-30 April 2024 with the participation of public institutions and private sector representatives.
Assessment of Economic Instruments used in Integrated Waste Management Workshop was opened by Ms. Sabriye Ayhan, Head of Circular Economy and Waste Management Department, Directorate General of Environmental Management, Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change and Mr. Mihail Dimovski, Team Leader, DEEP Project.
In her speech at the opening of the workshop, Ms. Sabriye Ayhan, Head of Circular Economy and Waste Management Department, emphasised that the most important issue in the circular economy is the management of waste and stated that it is very important to collect waste at the source so that it can be reused and recycled.
In his speech, Mr Mihail Dimovski, DEEP Project Team Leader, indicated that the workshop will discuss the status of extended producer responsibility in Türkiye and evaluate the economic instruments to be used to improve the current situation.
During the two-day workshop, presentations were made on the "Overall Economic Instruments used in Integrated Waste Management", "Extended Producer Responsibility in Türkiye", "Landfill Tax/Fee Applications in the EU Member States", "Deposit Refund System (DRS) Applications in the EU Member States", "Deposit Refund System (DRS) Preparations in Türkiye", "Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), Eco-Modulation and Pays As You Throw (PAYT) Applications in Spain".
The first working group session held at the end of the first day aimed to evaluate the extended producer responsibility system for Türkiye. For this purpose, the participants came together to create a framework in line with the prioritised needs of Türkiye and international standards.
In the second working group session held at the end of the second day, the evaluation of different economic instruments for Türkiye within the framework of integrated waste management was discussed. In this session, opinions and suggestions of the participants were received in the joint working groups on the implementation of economic instruments such as landfill/incineration tax, deposit return system, pay-as-you-throw and plastic tax practices in Türkiye.
The working group sessions, which were held with the active participation of private and public sector representatives, ended with the development of many creative ideas.
The closing speech of the workshop, which was organised with the participation of approximately 80 people, was made by Salih Eminoğlu, Circular Economy Policies Branch Manager. In his speech, Eminoğlu thanked the participants and mentioned the importance of utilising waste as a resource in Tükiye's transition to circular economy. As highlighted by the participants, he emphasised the importance of applying economic instruments with a holistic approach in the separate collection of waste at source.
