Kocaeli, Türkiye

Türkiye has made zero waste a national policy priority through its nationwide Zero Waste initiative. Municipalities are required to strengthen separate collection, improve recycling systems, and reduce landfill disposal while aligning with circular economy goals.

Kocaeli is one of the country’s most industrialised provinces and a major logistics corridor located near Istanbul. The city hosts large manufacturing clusters in automotive, chemicals, metals, and packaging, making waste prevention, industrial circularity, and hazardous waste management key priorities.

Kocaeli is one of Türkiye’s main industrial centres, with strong automotive, chemical, metals, plastics, and packaging sectors.

Türkiye generates over 30 million tonnes of municipal waste each year, with average waste generation at 1 kilogram per person per day.

Packaging waste (especially plastics, paper, and metals) is among the fastest-growing streams. Organic waste often makes up 40% of municipal waste.

Industrial activity also generates significant industrial and hazardous waste, making safer chemical and material management a national priority.

Kocaeli is expanding separate collection, recycling infrastructure, and organic waste solutions, particularly for commercial and industrial sources.

SWAP in Kocaeli

The GEF-funded Shifting to Zero Waste Against Pollution (SWAP) initiative supports Kocaeli in strengthening its zero waste system by improving planning, financing, infrastructure, circular business models, and policy frameworks. The project focuses on integrating municipal and industrial waste management, addressing hazardous chemicals in waste streams, and piloting practical circular economy solutions that can be scaled nationally.

Planning and governance

The project will update the Kocaeli Zero Waste Management Plan and Integrated Waste Management Plan based on assessments of waste flows, composition, and infrastructure gaps. The strengthened Zero Waste Coordination Board will improve institutional coordination and data exchange.

Hazardous chemicals and waste management

The project will identify municipal waste fractions that may contain hazardous chemicals — including e-waste, oils, batteries, textiles, and scrap materials — and define actions for environmentally sound management. These actions will feed into provincial plans and support development of national guidance on hazardous chemicals management.

Policy support

Support will be provided to develop regulatory proposals covering reuse of recovered materials, stronger extended producer responsibility, biodegradable waste processing infrastructure, management of harmful chemicals in municipal waste, and financing rules that allow municipalities to use revenues from recyclable materials.

Green public procurement

Kocaeli will develop a roadmap for green public procurement that identifies barriers, sets sustainability criteria, and trains municipal staff. Sustainable procurement criteria will be piloted for at least two high-consumption municipal products.

Financing

The project will review fiscal incentives and design tariffs and incentives that encourage waste prevention, separate collection, and recycling across households, businesses, and industry. An investment plan will support infrastructure such as transfer stations, separation facilities, composting, hazardous waste storage, and waste-to-energy solutions.

Extended producer responsibility

Demonstration projects will test extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes for packaging waste and electronic waste, establishing financially sustainable models for collection, sorting, recycling, and recovery. A dedicated pilot will focus on agricultural plastics, improving collection in rural areas, developing recycling systems, and defining roles across public and private actors while promoting reduction of plastic use.

Consumer tools and certification

The project will support eco-labelling, sustainable product certification pilots, and green packaging design. Public awareness activities will promote sustainable purchasing, waste sorting, and demand for certified products.

Capacity building

Training programmes will strengthen government, industry, and waste sector capacity. Informal recyclers will receive training, improved working conditions, and support for formalization and integration into recycling value chains.