Waste Statistics, 2022

The Turkish Statistical Institute collects data for waste statistics from all municipalities, manufacturing workplaces with 50 or more employees, active thermal power plants with a capacity of 100 MW or more, organized industrial zone directorates with completed infrastructure, mining operations reporting to the General Directorate of Mining and Petroleum Affairs, licensed or temporarily authorized waste disposal and recycling facilities, as well as municipal or municipally operated regular disposal, incineration, and compost facilities.

The total waste generated was calculated as 109.2 million tons.(1)

In 2022, 109.2 million tons of waste were generated in total, including 29.4 million tons of hazardous waste, from manufacturing workplaces, mining operations, thermal power plants, organized industrial zones, and households.

In manufacturing workplaces, 28 million tons of waste were generated, including 5.4 million tons of hazardous waste. Of the total waste, 63.2% was sold or sent to licensed waste treatment facilities, 14.5% was recycled within the facility, 13.5% was sent to regular disposal facilities, 3.3% was stored on-site, 3.1% was collected by municipalities or organized industrial zone administrations, 2% was sent to co-incineration or incineration facilities, 0.3% was used as backfill material or returned to nature, and 0.1% was disposed of by other methods.

In mining operations, excluding overburden material/tailing, 26.3 million tons of waste were generated. The total waste, including overburden material/tailing, amounted to 860.6 million tons, 99.99% of which consisted of mineral waste. Of the total waste, 76.1% was disposed of in tailing ponds, waste storage sites, or regular disposal facilities, 20.9% was backfilled into the mine, and 3% was recovered or disposed of by other methods.

Thermal power plants generated 27.8 million tons of waste, including 10,500 tons of hazardous waste. 82.6% of the non-hazardous waste consisted of ash and slag, and 17.4% was other waste. Of the total waste, 87.9% was disposed of in ash ponds, ash dams, or regular disposal facilities, 11.4% was sent to licensed facilities or used for backfilling in mines/quarries, and 0.7% was disposed of by other methods.

In organized industrial zones, 323,000 tons of waste were generated, including 127,000 tons of hazardous waste. Of the generated waste, 8,000 tons were recycled or temporarily stored in organized industrial zones, 243,000 tons were recycled outside organized industrial zones, and 72,000 tons were disposed of within or outside organized industrial zones. 63.4% of the disposed waste was sent to regular disposal facilities, 21.1% to municipal or organized industrial zone landfills, and 15.5% was disposed of by other methods.

Municipalities collected 30.3 million tons of waste.
In the 1391 municipalities, waste services were provided in 1389, where 30.3 million tons of waste were collected. Of this waste, 85.9% was sent to waste treatment facilities, 13.5% to municipal landfills, and 0.6% was disposed of by open burning, burial, or dumping in rivers or land. The average daily per capita waste collected in municipalities was 1.03 kg.

In municipal wastewater treatment plants, 348,000 tons of wastewater treatment sludge (on a dry matter basis) was generated.

Waste Treatment Facilities Processed 133.2 Million Tons of Waste(2)

In waste disposal and recycling facilities, 133.2 million tons of waste were processed. Of this, 81.4 million tons were disposed of, and 51.7 million tons were recycled.

In regular disposal facilities, 81 million tons of waste were disposed of, and 450,000 tons were disposed of in incineration facilities.

In co-incineration facilities, 3.2 million tons of waste were incinerated for energy recovery. In composting facilities, 120,000 tons of waste were recycled, while other recycling facilities recovered a total of 48.5 million tons of metal, plastic, paper, mineral, and other waste.

The next release of this report will be in November 2025.

EXPLANATIONS

(1) In mining sector data, overburden material/tailing is excluded. The previously published Health Institutions Waste Statistics, 2022-2026, will be released by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change within the framework of the Official Statistics Program.

(2) The Waste Disposal and Recycling Facilities Survey aims to obtain data on final waste disposal and recycling, so waste collection, sorting, and pre-storage facilities are excluded from the scope. These data also include imported waste.

(3) Source