-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-Özetini-Yayınladı-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
-webp.webp)
We-Cycle Fair 2023 - Extended Producer Responsibility and Domestic Waste Management Session
09 May 2023At the We-Cycle fair, our Secretary General Mete İmer explained Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) during the session titled Extended Producer Responsibility and Household Waste Management, moderated by Prof. Dr. Erdem Görgün.
The ÇEVKO Foundation was established 31 years ago by companies that adopted Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in Turkey. During this period, educational and awareness activities were carried out to establish a recycling culture in society, cooperation with public authorities was established for legal infrastructure, and work was carried out together with municipalities and licensed collection-separation facilities to ensure that packaging waste was collected separately at the source for recycling.
Between 2005-2015, as the authorized organization for the recovery of packaging waste, the ÇEVKO Foundation organized the collection and recycling of 7 million 500 thousand tons of packaging waste with the support of more than 5,000 economic enterprises in cooperation with 162 municipalities and 70 licensed collection-separation companies in 29 cities with a population of 30 million. As a foundation, in the last 5 years, besides waste management activities, we have focused on combating the climate crisis and transitioning to a circular economy in Turkey.
The adoption of the Green Dot, the symbol of EPR, by the ÇEVKO Foundation, its membership to PRO Europe, and afterwards EXPRA and Global Compact — stems from our mission to closely follow developments around the world and share them with our stakeholders. In 2017, during what may have been Turkey’s first international circular economy congress, we called for the preparation of a plan for Turkey’s transition to a circular economy. The vision we set out with 31 years ago — to establish a recycling culture and the habit of separate collection of post-consumer waste at the source — and the method of developing this vision through the EPR model, has gained importance worldwide with the transition to the circular economy.
The Green Dot is an internationally registered trademark that represents “Extended Producer Responsibility”. Developed in Germany in the 1990s, the Green Dot emerged as a common symbol used on the packaging of products by industrial companies that separately collect or financially contribute to the collection of post-consumer packaging waste, to inform consumers and public authorities. This symbol, which spread to Europe and the world, was introduced to Turkey by the ÇEVKO Foundation in 2003. Today, more than 1,100 economic enterprises in Turkey use the Green Dot under contract with the ÇEVKO Foundation.
During the international conference organized on November 1, 2022, the anniversary of the establishment of the ÇEVKO Foundation, the topic “Extended Producer Responsibility in the Circular Economy” was discussed in detail with the participation of national and international speakers from public institutions, NGOs and the business world. Within the scope of the event, the 2022 Green Dot Industry Awards and the Green Dot Press Awards were also presented.
EPR is an environmental policy in which the producer’s responsibility for a product extends to the post-consumer phase in the product’s life cycle. In other words, companies that place packaged products on the market assume physical or financial responsibility for the collection and recycling of the waste generated after consumption.
EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) Policy:
(1) Directs the responsibility (physical and/or economic; fully or partially) to the producer.
(2) Includes providing incentives for producers to consider environmental impacts when designing their products.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) systems are institutional mechanisms established to prevent and manage waste related to specific products and are based on the “polluter pays” principle.
The EPR system is not a tax. The financial contributions of producers are used directly by the Producer Responsibility Organization and are not “absorbed” within the general budget of the State.
EXPRA's 10 Golden Rules of EPR:
1- Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) covers the entire life cycle of a product.
2- EPR obligation systems should be managed and operated by the obligated industry.
3- EPR obligation systems must be nonprofit or systems that do not distribute profit to their members.
4- To avoid conflict of interest, those who collect, separate, or recycle waste should not actively take part within EPR organizations because these actors are the stakeholders from whom EPR organizations receive service.
5- There must be a strong legal framework related to EPR, enforced by public authorities.
6- A successful EPR is based on the cooperation between public authorities and those fulfilling EPR.
7- There must be equal conditions for EPR services provided in a region, and unfair competition should not exist.
8- Companies under obligation should be treated equally and should share the costs of EPR.
9- The EPR organization owned by industry must also pursue a public service mission.
10- EPR organizations should support obligated companies in improving the environmental performance of their products and packaging.
The Role of EPR in Transitioning to a Circular Economy
The first Producer Responsibility Organizations have 30 years of experience in the implementation, visibility and impact of EPR. From the beginning, EPR systems have emerged to provide solutions to the issues caused by increasing waste volumes, rising costs reflected on taxpayers, and resource waste caused by untreated waste.
Today, EPR models contribute to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (particularly goals 9, 12, 14 and 15).
At a time when the circular economy reduces dependence on raw materials and increases the strategic significance of nations due to the collection and recovery of waste, Producer Responsibility Organizations:
-Together with producers placing products on the market and public authorities, define minimum targets for reuse, recycling and recovery.
-Determine an environmental contribution fee to be collected at the market placement phase to cover the costs of end-of-life management of packaging.
-Adjust (eco-modulation) the environmental contribution fees paid by companies by increasing or decreasing them by taking into account environmental criteria such as eco-design of products, recyclability and use of recycled material.
-Ensure the inclusion of companies placing packaged products on the market within the circular economy.
-While creating sustainable funds for public waste management services, they also increase the efficiency of these services.
-By benefiting from economies of scale and efficiency, they keep costs reflected on citizens under control.
-By providing appropriate separate collection opportunities, they include citizens in the transition to a circular economy by encouraging separate collection, good consumption practices and new usage approaches.
-In certain cases, they educate consumers about the consequences of polluting the environment and participate in the costs related to collecting packaging that causes pollution.
-Cooperate with recyclers to ensure that recycled materials return to those who first placed them on the market.
With the transition to a circular economy, the importance of reducing waste, reusing it and recycling it has become better understood. Waste is a raw material that becomes an economic input if it is recycled. The separate collection and recycling of waste at its source within a sustainable system is important both in terms of preventing environmental pollution, contributing to the economy and social development.
Recycling prevents resource waste as it ensures that less natural raw material and fossil fuel, and less energy such as electricity, is consumed during production — mainly water, wood, petroleum. In this case, there is a double saving: less natural raw material and energy are used, and waste is prevented from becoming garbage and instead converted back into raw material. As the ÇEVKO Foundation, we calculated that the work carried out together with our stakeholders between 2005-2020 contributed 56 billion TL to the national economy.
The knowledge and sensitivity of our society regarding recycling is increasing day by day. The role of developments in the world, legal regulations made in our country on this subject, the awareness, information and education work carried out for many years by the ÇEVKO Foundation and similar organizations, and the importance media places on this issue — are all significant.
We observe that after 15 years of implementing the EPR model in Turkey, it was abandoned with the beginning of GEKAP collection. However, we strongly believe that especially post-consumer waste — which has become raw material for industry worldwide — should be owned by industry in our country as well, and that industry should take part in the process and lead it.
As the ÇEVKO Foundation, in recent years, as part of corporate responsibility with companies, we carry out voluntary activities for environmental cleaning, digital solutions for separate storage and collection of waste in workplaces, provision of waste storage equipment, and the collection and reporting of post-consumer plastic packaging waste in cooperation with municipalities and licensed companies within the scope of extended producer responsibility. In addition to our regularly published e-bulletin and e-magazine to raise awareness especially on climate crisis and sustainability in society, we organize online interviews with industry, academia, media representatives and our volunteers under the coordination of the ÇEVKO Foundation Climate Change and Sustainability Working Group.
The ÇEVKO Foundation is a nongovernmental organization that has become owned by society beyond being an industrial initiative. It works for society to internalize the recycling culture, to fight against the climate crisis, to understand the importance of the circular economy, and to take action. Citizens who wish to participate in these activities can apply on our website www.cevko.org.tr to become a “ÇEVKO volunteer”.
As we prepare to enter the 100th anniversary of our Republic, we have experienced a major series of earthquake disasters. Our pain is endless! I extend my condolences to those who lost their lives, wish a speedy recovery to our injured, and patience to all our citizens. I believe that as a nation united, we will overcome this great disaster and heal our wounds. From now on, I hope that if we act in accordance with science, in coordination, with a sense of responsibility and ethical values, we will not experience similar disasters. As the ÇEVKO Foundation, we are ready to take on tasks related to our area of expertise in projects to be prepared to dispose of the waste generated in the region and to meet basic needs, especially shelter, just as we did in similar projects in the past.
Latest
News & Updates
