Assistance for Turkey on its way to EU membership

The overall objective for a EUR 2.5-million waste management project in Turkey is to accelerate Turkey’s accession to the European Union.

​COWI is providing technical consultancy to the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation on a project in Turkey aiming to help the country realise its ambition to become a member of the European Union. The country wishes to achieve a high level of environmental protection and thereby secure compliance with EU directives on the environment and solid waste management.

“The country hasn’t opened the chapter on environmental protection in its negotiation with the EU yet, and for now, negotiations are put on hold because of the Cyprus question,” says Team Leader Jan Skajaa and continues: “Therefore, we cannot say anything about the effects on the admittance procedure, but certainly the project – once implemented – will have a tremendous, positive impact on the environment”.

Establishing waste systems in eight different regions
COWI is preparing the detailed design of waste treatment and disposal facilities as well as applications to the instrument for pre-accession assistance (IPA) under the EU for the construction of the waste plants in eight different regions in the Eastern part of the country – covering a population of nearly two million citizens. Pre-accession assistance supports the stabilisation and association process of EU candidate countries such as Turkey.

The applications are prepared on behalf of eight municipal solid waste management unions. The purpose is to receive funding to establish integrated waste systems – i.e. sanitary landfill sites, composting and recycling facilities, transfer stations, sustainable waste collection and recycling systems – and, equally important, to close down all non-sanitary dumps.

“Typically, waste is dumped by riversides and as time passes, all that waste will end up in the river, being dragged along by the current. All contaminated substances will be transported downstream, while plastic will stick to the bushes that grow along the river like Christmas decorations. All this will change with the new waste management systems, leading to much better environmental conditions,” says Skajaa.