Current Situation in the European Union in the Transition to a Circular Economy, Extended Producer Responsibility and Digital Solution Recommendations in Waste Management

At the international conference organized on November 1, 2022, the 31st anniversary of the ÇEVKO Foundation, the topic of extended producer responsibility in the circular economy was comprehensively addressed with the participation of national and international speakers from the public sector, NGOs, and the business world. As part of the conference, the 2022 Green Dot Industry Awards and Green Dot Press Awards were also presented to their recipients.

The conference titled “The Latest Developments in the European Union in the Transition to a Circular Economy, Extended Producer Responsibility, and Digital Solution Proposals in Waste Management,” featuring speakers from Turkey and abroad, attracted great interest. The hybrid-format conference was held both physically and online with Turkish/English live-stream options. During the event, the Green Dot Industry and Press Awards were presented to the winners. The conference, broadcast live on Çevre TV, was moderated by Çevre TV News Coordinator Orkun Yazgan and Program Coordinator Deniz Şafak.

In his opening speech, Chairman of the Board of ÇEVKO Foundation, Okyar Yayalar, stated: “ÇEVKO Foundation was established 31 years ago by companies that adopted Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in Turkey. During this time, we have carried out education and awareness activities to instill a culture of recycling in society, collaborated with public authorities to develop a legal framework, and worked with municipalities and licensed collection-separation facilities to collect packaging waste at the source for recycling. In recent years, we have focused on thought leadership in ‘fighting the climate crisis’ and ‘transitioning to a circular economy.’ The importance of the recycling concept, which we have been trying to establish in Turkey, has increased even more today. While the adoption of Extended Producer Responsibility has expanded across Europe in parallel with the transition to a circular economy over the past five years, we have witnessed this concept being abandoned in our country. We organized this conference to examine the issue in depth and generate useful recommendations for our country. I wish our conference a productive outcome.”

Providing general information about the conference content, ÇEVKO Foundation Secretary General Mete İmer said: “Throughout ÇEVKO Foundation’s journey, our adoption of the Green Dot, the symbol of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR); our membership in PRO Europe, which consists of organizations using this symbol; being among the founders of EXPRA; and finally, becoming a member of the Global Compact all stem from our mission to closely follow global developments and share them with our stakeholders. In 2017, during what was perhaps Turkey’s first circular economy congress, we called for a plan for the country’s transition to a circular economy. Following the adoption of the Paris Climate Agreement, our calls for its ratification by our parliament accelerated with the publication of the EU Green Deal. Today, we are pleased to see that Turkey has become a party to the Paris Agreement, set a carbon-neutral target for 2053, and is working on climate laws and regulations. The vision we established 31 years ago—to create a culture of recycling and the habit of separating post-consumer waste at the source, and to develop this vision through the EPR model—has gained importance worldwide with the transition to a circular economy.”

In his opening speech, Global Compact Turkey Board Member Servet Yıldırım said: “Global Compact aims to create concrete and measurable impact on the path to sustainable development together with responsible companies and does so by mobilizing companies in areas where the transformative power of business is greatest and measuring progress. The new strategy of the UN Global Compact seeks to make collective action possible in all areas. Taking local needs and capacities into account, we provide a variety of tools, platforms, and resources.”

EXPRA - Extended Producer Responsibility Alliance Chairman Oscar Martin stated: “In 28 countries with a total population of 200 million, we ensure the recycling of 18 million tons of packaging waste annually. We contribute to the European Union’s climate and circularity goals.”

Didem Artunç Ünaltekin, Trade Expert at the Directorate for the EU Single Market and Green Deal of the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Turkey, said: “Circular economy, which is a very crucial issue for both climate change and the circularity and sustainability of our industry, is widely discussed today, and ÇEVKO Foundation, with the contributions of its valuable members, has been fulfilling its role in this area for 31 years. In the near future, our industry will be required to use minimum amounts of recycled material in many products. Therefore, spreading this new practice and awareness among consumers is extremely important. I highly value and hope for the continuation of ÇEVKO Foundation’s efforts in this regard, such as public service announcements, computer games for children, and magazines.”

The first panel in the conference program, titled “The Latest Developments in the European Union in the Transition to a Circular Economy and Extended Producer Responsibility,” featured speakers including EXPRA Managing Director Joachim Quoden, EXPRA Public and Corporate Communications Director Monika Romenska, EKO-KOM (Czech Republic) Operations Director Petr Šikyr, and ÖKO-Pannon (Hungary) Managing Director Beata Gönci.

In his presentation, Joachim Quoden emphasized the definition of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and stated that EXPRA had identified 10 golden rules for EPR. He underlined that EPR is not a tax system related to waste recovery. Instead of a tax system where industrial companies pay but cannot monitor the results, they prefer a model in which they establish and manage the entire process through non-profit organizations they fund. He noted that the successful and efficient results of this model can be seen in many countries across Europe and the world. He added that Croatia, Hungary, and unfortunately now Turkey have abandoned EPR and switched to a tax system, whereas EPR is mandatory under EU legislation.

Monika Romenska from EXPRA elaborated on the new regulations introduced in EU waste legislation with the circular economy packages. Petr Šikyr from EKO-KOM shared the successful outcomes and recommendations achieved by the Czech Republic, a country implementing the EPR model. Beata Gönci from ÖKO-Pannon explained that Hungary abandoned the EPR model eleven years ago and switched to a tax system, during which time source separation was not supported and recycling rates declined. As a result, the government now determines recycling fees and has granted a single company a 35-year concession for waste management. She expressed concerns that this would make returning to EPR practices impossible for 35 years, eliminate competition in the waste market, restrict the free movement of goods in the waste sector, and remove transparency and participation in determining EPR fees.

In the session titled “The Current Situation in Turkey and Extended Producer Responsibility in the Transition to a Circular Economy,” developments in Turkey, the perspective of public authorities, ongoing coordinated efforts, ÇEVKO Foundation’s activities, future recommendations, and industrial evaluations of EPR were discussed. Didem Artunç Ünaltekin from the Ministry of Trade provided information on the EU Green Deal, new regulations, financing opportunities, and Turkey’s efforts toward the circular economy. She stated that Thematic Working Groups open to stakeholder participation have been formed, including groups concerning Extended Producer Responsibility.

ÇEVKO Foundation Secretary General Mete İmer stated that Turkey abandoned the Extended Producer Responsibility model after 15 years of implementation with the introduction of GEKAP fees. He explained that EPR has become more important globally with the transition to a circular economy, providing examples, and shared that ÇEVKO Foundation has established an EPR Working Group among its members to develop concrete recommendations. İmer emphasized that since post-consumer waste has become the raw material of industry, the industry must take ownership of waste management, participate in the process, and lead it.

Unilever Board Member and Corporate Communications Director Ebru Şenel Erim announced that they are part of ÇEVKO Foundation’s EPR Working Group and have started a voluntary and pilot project with ÇEVKO Foundation to collect, recycle, and report post-consumer plastic waste.

CarrefourSA Deputy General Manager of Human Resources and Sustainability Bahar Tura shared the challenges and solutions they face regarding packaging declarations, GEKAP, the transition to deposits in beverage packaging, zero-waste practices, and the cost of carrier bags. The final speaker of the session, GCA General Manager Dr. Abdullah Gayret, noted that due to GEKAP and logistics problems in recent years, the collection of glass packaging waste has declined. He emphasized the importance of developing glass recycling capacity and collecting waste domestically as part of the transition to a circular economy. While expressing concerns about the transition to mandatory deposits in beverage packaging, he mentioned their “Ekomat” project, developed to raise awareness on this issue.

The next session in the conference program, titled “Industrial Responsibility in Source Separation of Waste in Turkey,” was organized with the participation of authorized NGOs. Speakers included AGİD – Lighting Equipment Manufacturers Association Chairman Fahir Gök, PETDER – Petroleum Industry Association Deputy Secretary General Serkan Bereket, TAP – Portable Battery Manufacturers and Importers Association Project Officer Hatice Yıldız, and ÇEVKO Foundation Public, International Relations, and Projects Manager Alphan Eröztürk.

The speakers shared the state of waste collection before and after GEKAP in their respective sectors. Representatives mentioned that the amounts of collected waste oils and portable batteries decreased after GEKAP due to reduced resources, which limited their ability to support collection. Alphan Eröztürk from ÇEVKO noted that Extended Producer Responsibility has been included in the Environmental Law since 2006, and while the collection of waste and other obligations are addressed in related regulations, there are challenges in data acquisition and publication. He added that obtaining data through a digital system would facilitate control and supervision while increasing transparency.

The final session of the conference was titled “Digital Solution Proposals Compatible with Circular Economy and Zero Waste.” In this session, ÇEVKO Foundation Project Specialist Fatih Arslan, Bucak Municipality Deputy Mayor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Oğuzhan Erdoğan, Migros Quality and Environmental Management Director Dr. Hülya Günay, and Atkasan Factory Manager Lütfü Kıpkıp participated as speakers. The session focused on digital solutions developed and implemented by ÇEVKO. Bucak Municipality, Migros, and the licensed collection-separation facility Atkasan shared detailed information about the transparency, efficiency gains, cost reductions, and reporting convenience achieved by using ÇEVKO’s digital solutions.

The closing speech of the conference was delivered by ÇEVKO Foundation Executive Board Chair Figan Soykut. Emphasizing that Extended Producer Responsibility in the circular economy, which fundamentally transforms industrial operations, was extensively discussed throughout the conference, Soykut stated: “This new approach represents great opportunities in many respects. Examples from Europe have shown us that this approach should first be adopted as a national policy and that it brings economic benefits as a model. The growing importance of Extended Producer Responsibility and the success of countries implementing this model in the European Union have encouraged us to reconsider and reimplement this model in our country. On the other hand, we have also seen that digital solutions developed in waste management now make the collection and evaluation of waste—the raw material of industry—more efficient and transparent. As ÇEVKO Foundation, we believe that the approach of ‘Extended Producer Responsibility in the circular economy’ will bring many useful innovations to our country. With this belief, we will continue our efforts on this subject in the coming period.”

You can watch the video recording of the conference via the link below: