People polluting environment to be detected by fingerprints

ISPARTA

Those who pollute public spaces like places of worship, cemeteries, parks and promenades in the southern province of Isparta will be identified by their fingerprints and legal proceedings will be taken against them.

Provincial police teams initiated an application to identify those who pollute sanctuaries, cemeteries, park and promenade areas.

Within the scope of the application, crime scene investigation and public security teams will make identification after taking fingerprints from the wastes.

Following the fingerprints taken from waste such as bottles and plastic cups are examined in a laboratory, the identities of these people will be determined.

Legal proceedings will be taken against the identified persons on the charges of “deliberately or negligently polluting the environment” and “damaging places of worship and cemeteries.”

Within the scope of the “Zero-Waste Project,” led by Turkish first lady Emine Erdoğan in a bid to reduce the volume of non-recyclable waste, the recycling rate in Türkiye increased from 13 percent to 27 percent, Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum stated in September.

Around 16.5 million tons of paper and cardboard, 4.1 million tons of plastic and 1.7 million tons of glass were recycled between 2017, when the project was launched, and January 2022.

Approximately 400,000 tons of metals and 1.5 million tons of organic wastes were included in the recycling process in the same period.

The ministry aims to increase the recycling rate to 60 percent in 2035 while one of the essential goals within the scope of the project is to introduce a system in which all waste is recycled by 2053.

The first lady Erdoğan also received the World Bank’s first-ever “Climate and Development Leadership Award” for the pioneering role she assumed in the fight against climate change with her Zero-Waste Project.