City Coordination Meetings Held to Address Plastic Waste
The “Türkiye Plastic Waste Workshop City Coordination Meetings” organized under the coordination of the Zero Waste Foundation, have been completed in four coastal provinces: Adana, Mersin, Muğla and Antalya.
According to a statement by the foundation, the meetings were held to identify priorities for plastic waste management and the prevention of plastic pollution in coastal provinces, the protection of coastal and marine ecosystems, and the strengthening of the circular economy.
Governors, municipal representatives, public institutions, universities, chambers of industry and commerce, organized industrial zones, nongovernmental organizations and private-sector representatives came together to assess the current state of plastic waste management in each province, the problems encountered, local practices and proposed solutions.
The meetings also highlighted the importance of strengthening, in tandem, source reduction, effective collection, recycling and reuse in order to prevent plastic waste from reaching the seas from land-based sources through waterways and coastal areas.
At the same time, the particular circumstances of each province shaped the focus of the discussions.
In Adana, the discussions focused on industrial and manufacturing processes; in Mersin, on ports, trade and coastal ecosystems; in Muğla, on tourism and the protection of coastal areas; and in Antalya, on the effects of tourism, high levels of consumption and extensive coastal areas on the plastics cycle.
The views and recommendations presented at the meetings will be documented and conveyed to the Türkiye Plastic Waste Workshop, to be held in Istanbul on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, 2026.
The workshop, which will bring together representatives from 17 ministries and more than 40 directorates general, will assess issues including plastic production and design, sustainable consumption, waste management, recovery, microplastics, human health, financing, governance and international cooperation across 15 working tables organized under four main thematic blocks.
A Governors’ Session will also be held as part of the workshop, bringing together the governors of the coastal provinces. The local assessments from Adana, Mersin, Muğla and Antalya are expected to be discussed during the session alongside the experiences of other coastal provinces.
The workshop aims to produce a Türkiye Plastics Circularity Final Report.
The report is intended to provide a strategic road map for reducing plastic waste, expanding recycling and reuse, protecting coastal areas and seas from plastic pollution, and strengthening Türkiye’s circular-economy goals.