Establishment of zero waste system in Sultanbeyli district of Istanbul

With the increasing population and changing living standards with urbanization, the increase in the welfare levels of the societies causes the consumption habits to change and the demands to increase. In this context, the increase in purchasing power and developing technology are increasing the amount of waste. The concept of waste is defined as undesirable useless substances that arise as a result of any production and consumption activities. Solid wastes are substances that originate from domestic, commercial or industrial activities, are intended to be disposed of by the consumer, but must be disposed of regularly for environmental, human health and social reasons. Solid waste management covers all sectors producing waste and all the links of the waste management chain in a particular residential area. It consists of the steps of separating and reducing the waste at the source for reuse and recycling, collecting and transporting, processing and ensuring final disposal. Waste is managed according to the waste management hierarchy. According to the waste management hierarchy, it is preferred to prevent the formation of waste first, to reduce the wastes that cannot be prevented at the source, and to reuse the wastes that cannot be reduced at the source. In the next steps, recycling and energy recovery are preferred, and finally, the disposal method is chosen. New areas were needed to remove the waste from the living area due to the increasing amount of waste over time. The constant search for new areas is not sustainable, and the existence of reusable materials in the resulting solid wastes has resulted in a radical change in the understanding of waste management. With this change, it was aimed to recycle packaging waste, to prevent the amount of waste from occurring at the source and to reduce it, and to reduce the amount of waste to be disposed of. It is aimed to provide maximum efficiency and social benefit from wastes by minimizing the negative environmental effects of wastes. While dealing with wastes on a global scale, the tendency towards environmental protection policies is increasing with the increasing environmental awareness of the society in the world. The concept of zero waste is an approach to prevent the formation of waste types resulting from these activities, to prevent waste, to ensure efficient use of natural resources, to separate wastes at their source, and to recycle wastes to the economy. In recent years, the 'Zero Waste Management' model, which is an important waste management model all over the world, has been researched and the concepts of zero waste and zero waste management have been discussed. In the circular economy approach, the materials defined as waste are reintroduced into the economy to be used again in the production stages as a raw material source. T.R. The "Zero Waste" project was initiated in 2017 for a cleaner world and a sustainable life by controlling wastes by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change. This project, which started within the Ministry, was first initiated in official institutions. Within the scope of the project, waste generation in municipalities, one of the biggest stakeholder institutions of the ministry, was prevented as much as possible, and the collection of wastes according to their types and the recycling of wastes were ensured. Zero waste is the most holistic innovation of sustainable waste management systems. The reuse, repair and production of products for recycling brought along an economy approach that minimizes and ultimately eliminates waste. Zero waste is an approach that reduces the carbon footprint of cities and takes an important place in the fight against climate change. A zero waste approach strategy is adopted in provinces, districts and municipalities in order to address the difficulties in solid waste management and to minimize the amount of solid waste produced and disposed of. The zero waste approach has become a pioneer in order to encourage recycling and reuse as much as possible in the districts. Zero waste minimizes waste by reducing consumption, maximizing recycling and enabling products to be reused, repaired or returned to nature or the market without being thrown away or wasted. First of all, waste is a public health problem, a substance that must be removed from society as quickly and cheaply as possible. Zero waste is an approach that tackles waste problems in society and is used in various sectors, municipalities, public and private institutions, hospitals, factories, etc. implemented in places. While there is a lot of information in the literature with this approach, in which waste is brought into the economy and waste generation is minimized, very few studies have been found on the measurement and evaluation of waste. This study reveals that the scope of zero waste studies is very diverse and the concept of zero waste is constantly evolving through various programs, plans, policies and strategies. Also, this study shows that the zero waste approach is implemented with a holistic zero waste strategy in Sultanbeyli district. The study highlights that counties, provinces and countries at a larger scale can achieve zero waste targets by developing a national zero waste strategy, integrating zero waste initiatives through waste management policy and promoting society. In this study, Sultanbeyli district of Istanbul province was determined as the pilot study area. The studies on the establishment and execution of the zero waste management system of the Sultanbeyli district were examined. Considering the population density, information was obtained about the amount and types of waste. In addition, various EU studies conducted within the scope of waste management for a sustainable environment were examined. The effects of the developments in our country and the world on the waste management system have been evaluated in the waste sector. Changes in the amount and volume of solid waste, the fact that the issue is handled by different disciplines, and that the solid waste service is basically a local service has resulted in the emergence of many different concepts, methods and application forms in solid waste management. The aim of this study is to explain some concepts and their meanings used in solid waste management in Sultanbeyli municipality. Zero waste management applied in Sultanbeyli district has been examined and the municipality is responsible for the years 2019, 2020 and 2021; The amounts and distributions of household, paper, plastic, glass, textile, vegetable oil, battery and tire waste types were investigated. It has been determined that the highest amount of waste generated in the district in every three years is domestic waste. Domestic waste, as a type of municipal solid waste, is the waste produced by households. While 91% of the wastes generated in 2019 were domestic wastes, 91% in 2020 and 93% in 2021 were domestic wastes. It has been determined that the most common type of waste after household waste in the district is paper waste. Paper waste constitutes 7% of the waste generated in 2019, 6% in 2020 and 6% in 2021