Tons of e-waste waiting for new recycling plants

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Electronic waste recycling business is promising in Turkey as the existing companies are apparently not enough. AA photo

Turkey produces 539,000 tons of electronic waste every year and the country needs more facilities to process these materials, particularly refrigerators, a sector professional said at a recent panel.

Television sets, computer monitors and cellular phones make up the majority of the 539,000 tons of total electronic waste in the country, said Exitcom General Manager Murat Ilgar, at the Electronic Waste Management panel.

“The cities that produce the most waste are Istanbul, Kocaeli and Ankara. On average seven kilograms and 21 grams of electronic waste are generated per person in Turkey. This waste is processed at 21 facilities based in Turkey,” he said. There are no recycling facilities for waste refrigerators in the country, he said, adding that new recycling plants should be established for electronic waste.

Exitcom provides services in the field of waste electric and electronic equipment recovery and provides its services in Hanover and the northwestern province of Kocaeli in Turkey.

Disposal of data on recycled computer hard disks is important for data security, Ilgar also said.

Data theft widespread

“Data theft has become widespread. Many companies have been affected adversely from this mainly because the information in data carriers such as phones, hard disks, USB flash disks etc., is not disposed of in the correct way,” he said. Speaking at the same panel discussion, Özlem Yılmaz of the Environment and Urban Development Ministry said a recently introduced bylaw will significantly contribute to the recycling sector in the country. The Waste Electric and Electronic Devices Control Bylaw was enacted in June this year. Ozan Kayahan of Evciler Geri Dönüşüm, a local recycling firm, said his company has enacted projects combining waste collecting management with charity collection. One of them, “Helpful Waste,” provided donations for the Middle East Technical University and the Association for the Support of Contemporary Living (ÇYDD).