Illegal dump : Plastic from the UK and Germany illegally dumped in Turkey
The latest Greenpeace UK report features photos of British grocery packaging in piles of burning and smoking plastic, three thousand kilometres away from the shops where the products were sold.
Another Greenpeace Germany document shows new analysis of plastic waste exports from Germany to Turkey. Packaging from German supermarkets such as Lidl, Aldi, EDEKA and REWE was found. In addition plastic waste from products of the brands Henkel, Em-eukal, NRJ and Hella.
241 truckloads of plastic waste every day
“As this new evidence shows, plastic waste coming from Europe to Turkey is an environmental threat not an economic opportunity. Uncontrolled imports of plastic waste do nothing but increase the problems existing in Turkey’s own recycling system. Around 241 truckloads of plastic waste come to Turkey every day from across Europe and it overwhelms us. As far as we can see from the data and the field, we continue to be Europe’s largest plastic waste dump,” said Nihan Temiz Ataş, Biodiversity Projects Lead from Greenpeace Mediterranean, based in Turkey.
At ten sites dotted around the Adana province in southwestern Turkey, investigators documented piles of plastic waste dumped illegally by the roadside, in fields or spilling into waterways and floating downstream. In many cases the plastic was on fire or had been burned. Plastic from the UK was evident at all of these sites, and plastic from Germany was found at most of them. It included packaging and plastic bags from seven of the top 10 UK supermarkets such as Lidl, M&S, Sainsbury’s and Tesco, as well as other retailers such as Spar. German plastic included a bag from Rossmann, Snack Wurfel, Ja! and peach water packaging.
At least some of the plastic waste had been dumped recently. At one site, packaging for a COVID-19 antigen test was found amongst bags of UK plastic, indicating that the waste was less than a year old. Recognisable brand names on packaging included Coca Cola and PepsiCo.
Ever since China’s ban on exported plastic waste in 2017, Turkey has seen a huge rise in waste coming from the UK and elsewhere in Europe.