Implementing zero waste applications in puplic institutions and organizations withhin the scope of 14001 environmental management system standard

One of the important problems of the growing and developing world in terms of economic, social and population is the increase in the amount and variety of solid wastes. As a result of the rapid increase in domestic and industrial wastes in parallel with the development, the disposal of these wastes also causes major environmental problems. In order to solve this problem, the concept of Zero Waste was introduced for the first time in our country. The Zero Waste concept adopts the waste management hierarchy (prevention, reduction, reuse, recycling, energy recovery and disposal). With zero waste; It is aimed to prevent the formation of wastes at the source, to provide recycling for unavoidable wastes and finally to dispose of unutilized wastes without harming the environment. In this study, the headquarters of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, where Zero Waste and ISO 14001 Environmental Management System were carried out together for the first time, was chosen. Ministry practices and waste data were examined and the benefits of the environmental management system for the implementation of zero waste practices were evaluated. Between the years 2015-2019 before the ISO 14001 certificate was obtained, a total of 274774 kg/year of waste was obtained, and between the years of 2019-2022, when the certificate was obtained, a decrease of 15.5% was observed with a total of 232072 kg/year waste. Distribution of this decrease according to waste composition; were determined as 79.19%, 94.21%, 88.6%, 92.88% and 72.48% for paper, plastic, metal, glass and organic, respectively. Waste compositions in the years 2019-2022, when the ISO 14001 certificate was obtained, are generally more than 50% reduction, especially for paper, plastic, metal, glass and organic waste. In these reductions, the impact factor of obtaining the ISO 14001 certificate is high. In addition, there was a 97.70% decrease in compost production between the years 2019-2022 after the quality certificate was obtained. The study has shown; Zero Waste Management, when evaluated together with ISO 14001, provides a great deal of waste minimization.