Istanbul commuters to recycle plastic bottles to top up Istanbul Card
ISTANBUL
The Istanbul Municipality will soon introduce a deposit scheme for plastic bottles in a move to encourage recycling. “
Smart vending machines” are to be launched to load money into Istanbul Cards, the city’s travel card, depending on the number of empty bottles they take in.
“With those smart machines, our waste management department and the municipality’s Smart City Technologies Company [İsbak] will contribute to the protection of the environment,” the municipality said on Twitter.
“We are continuing to pioneer in solid waste management,” it added.
According to local media, a total of 17,000 tons of domestic waste is collected in Istanbul, the country’s largest city. Six tons of the waste are processed and recycled at the municipality’s facilities.
