Evaluation of the current status of the construction and demolition waste management system in turkey

In recent years, with the effect of globalization, the society has changed its consciousness and a society more prone to consumption has been formed. With the development of technology and communication, the needs have been differentiated and consumption has increased rapidly. Increasing production activities in order to achieve supply demand balance increased the use of natural resources. Waste generated by both production and consumption activities has also increased. Wastes not stored with proper storage methods have started to cause environmental pollution and this process has brought about the recovery of wastes. In the construction sector, demolition activities have increased due to the fact that existing structures have not completed their useful lives or there is no earthquake resistance. Wastes resulting from construction and demolition activities were either disposed in rural areas such as other sector waste or sent to landfills. The Law No. 6306 on the Conversion of Disaster Relief Areas and the Implementing Regulation which foresees the construction of earthquake-resistant structures in Turkey, has been adopted on 31 May 2012 and with the entry into force of the law there has been an increase in demolition activities. In this process which is still active today, construction and demolition wastes continue to increase. In our country, it is not possible to reduce the wastes in applications such as demolition applications. Recycling applications such as reuse or recycling in management process are gaining importance. In the new management practices to be planned, it should be aimed to be included in the cycle by enabling the construction and demolition wastes to be recovered in the most appropriate way and to re-production in order to obtain healthy and sustainable environments. Environmental awareness should be made about the recovery processes, which are the benefits of prevention of environmental pollution, protection of natural resources and economic efficiency. Implementation of government incentives, regulations and supervision systems need to be developed. The aim of this thesis is to determine the current situation of the construction and demolition waste management system applied in our country, to define the deficiencies of the system and to formulate suggestions for the elimination of the deficiencies. In the introduction part of the thesis study carried out for the purpose defined above, general information about the purpose, scope and method is given. In the second section, waste definitions were made and information about solid waste management was given. A literature search on the subject has been done and current waste management practices have been explained in detail. In the continuation of the section, construction and demolition wastes and construction and demolition waste management system definitions are made and the reduction/prevention, reuse, recycling, recovery and storage methods used in the construction and demolition waste management hierarchy are explained. In the third part, the countries which are successful in the management and implementation of construction and demolition wastes in the world; applied legal regulations, applied strategies and incentives, recycling rates, existing recycling systems, were examined. Then, the solid waste and construction and demolition waste management systems in our country have been investigated and it has been determined that the storage method, which is mentioned as the most inefficient waste management system in our country, has been used. Necessary arrangements and obstacles to the implementation of more efficient management systems implemented in developed countries in our country have been investigated. In the fourth chapter, in order to make the construction and demolition waste management system more efficient in our country, firstly the situation has been determined and suggestions have been made to eliminate the deficiencies determined. During the determination of the situation, interviews were conducted with the persons, institutions and organizations involved in the construction and demolition waste management process. As the research region, Istanbul was chosen as the region where the urban transformation process has progressed very intensely and where the construction and demolition waste occurred. It is thought that pilot applications to be made in Istanbul will be an exemplary work for other provinces and districts. In conclusion, explanations about the current state of construction and demolition waste management system analysis and construction and demolition waste needs to be done to improve the management system work in Turkey are summarized in this section. In this thesis, a general evaluation was made by utilizing the domestic and foreign literature on the construction and demolition wastes and the management practices of these wastes. Within the scope of the research, electronic resources, books and theses were examined. Organizations and associations that work in order to develop the legal regulations and management system of successful countries in the management of construction and demolition waste have been identified and their publications have been examined. The construction and demolition waste management systems of the European Union (EU) member states, the United States of America (USA) and Japan, which are found to be highly developed management systems, have been examined in detail and the current situation of the management and future plans are presented in this study. In our country, regulations are made in the existing legislation in the process of harmonization with EU legislation. For this reason, more emphasis was given to the practices in EU member states. In terms of future implementations, some of the EU member states form an exemplary profile for our country. A general evaluation of the literature researches about the subject has been done and the current construction and demolition waste management system applied in our country has been evaluated. Located in construction and demolition waste management system in Turkey; as a result of the interviews conducted with the units that form, supervise and implement the system, it was first determined how the system works, then the deficiencies in the system were determined and suggestions were made to eliminate these deficiencies. The interview is a qualitative research method; There are three different types of structured interview, semi-structured interview and unstructured interview. The interviews were conducted with semi-structured interview technique. The questions to be asked in this interview type include the main topics in the direction of the subjects. Questions to ask are open-ended and give the participant the opportunity to describe the subject in detail. Meetings were held with six participants in the construction and demolition waste management steps, and the current situation of the construction and demolition waste management system was determined in line with the answers given. Then, the deficiencies in the current situation have been determined and various suggestions have been made in terms of regulations, implementation and supervision processes for the elimination of deficiencies. With the recommendations made, it is aimed to improve the existing construction and demolition waste management system. There is no planned work on construction and demolition waste management in Turkey. In recent years, studies on domestic wastes have been carried out. Studies on the rehabilitation of wild dump sites and the establishment of landfills are continuing. In our country, especially since the beginning of the urban transformation activities since 2012, construction and demolition wastes have been maximized. For this reason, it has been necessary to make the construction and demolition waste management system more efficient and functional in order to create a healthy and sustainable environment. A structured process on the storage of construction and demolition waste in the existing construction and demolition waste management system is ongoing. The storage method in the lowest step of the waste management hierarchy applied to the developed countries' management systems is the one that needs to be reduced in an efficient management program and the last one to be addressed. Recycling of the wastes is important as construction activities continue at the same rate in line with the demolition activities. With the management plans aimed at the inclusion of the waste from the cycle, environmental pollution will be prevented and economic development will be ensured by decreasing the costs. In the interviews with the people, institutions and organizations involved in the implementation of the current management system, important points have been identified in which the construction and demolition waste management system has been insufficient and new proposals have been formed for the closure of the deficits. Deficiencies of the management process; lack of regulation, application deficiencies and lack of audit are summarized under the headings. Recommendations for improvement of the management process are also gathered under the same headings. The proposals are summarized below under main headings: • Development of existing regulations on issues where regulations are inadequate and new regulations to include some implementation principles in the process, • Policies should be developed to reduce waste generation throughout the country and encourage the recovery of wastes in order to create social awareness. • In order to direct the parties to the recycling practices, incentives should be applied at the level of firms and state supported pilot projects should be implemented. • Increasing the number of recycling facilities • Use of recycled materials The use of natural resources is very high, but natural resources are not unlimited. The method of reducing the use of natural resources is the use of hidden resources that are disposed of as landfills. It is important to increase recycling facilities to speed up the recycling of waste. With the investment to be made to recycling facilities, the recycling of construction and debris wastes, which are formed after destruction, have environmental and economic advantages. As a result, the development of efficient and healthy practices in the management of construction and demolition wastes in the world is necessary to create clean and sustainable environments and to protect existing resources. In our country, the development of a management system in which the construction and demolition wastes can be evaluated by reuse, recycling or recovery methods will contribute to our country as environmentally and economically.