European Union municipal waste management policy and Turkey's harmonization process. Case study of Manisa

This research aims to reveal the European Union (EU) Municipal Waste Management Policy and examine municipal waste management in Manisa city. Thanks to the findings of the study, Türkiye's adaptation process to these policies as a candidate member country has been analyzed. The method used to collect data is semi-structured interviews. The interviews were done with thirteen people working in waste management and environment departments in public and private organizations, and provincial and district municipalities serving in Manisa, in March 2022. The snowball sample was extensively used to choose the participants for the interviews. The finding of the study has been described under four main categories. The categories are as follows; Current Solid Waste Management Situation in Manisa; State of European Union Harmonization in Manisa; Main Challenges Faced in the Solid Waste Management in Manisa; and Possible Solutions to Those Challenges and the Future of Waste Management in Manisa. The legislation on waste management in the European Union and Türkiye are elaborated on in the first and second Chapters respectively. Per the findings of the study, it is concluded that Türkiye has good waste management legislation which is all-in-all compatible with the EU standards. However, the implementation of the objectives of this legislation is no longer compatible with the EU standards due to many reasons. One of the main reasons is that people are unconscious and uneducated about waste which leads to no diversification at the source. Other challenges include financial scarcity and less site control.