Greenpeace Finds Tons of Italy-Sourced Plastic Waste in İzmir, Files Criminal Complaint
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Greenpeace has filed a criminal complaint at the İzmir Chief Public Prosecutor's Office against those responsible for the plastic waste in Kemalpaşa, İzmir "not stored appropriately to environmental condition."
Greenpeace officials who examined the area yesterday (September 4) said there was plastic packaging waste in the area with a house next to it.
Greenpeace Mediterranean has called on the Ministry of Environment and Urbanism to clarify questions about who owns the area where tons of plastic waste is found, from where the waste is brought there, and why there was no inspection.
Farmland around the garbage
Deniz Bayram, a legal counsel for Greenpeace Mediterranean, said in a press release that imports of plastic waste should be banned:
"Tons of plastic garbage that appeared in a field with no storage area and has agricultural land around it in Kemalpaşa, İzmir is clear evidence of how the import of plastic garbage that was directed to Turkey a while ago caused an environmental crime.
"As Greenpeace, we found plastic waste originating in Italy in the tons of waste in the area. We have filed a criminal complaint against this crime against nature at the İzmir Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. We will follow the criminal investigation process into how the waste came to Turkey illegally, when it came, why inspections were not carried out and those responsible for this crime."
Bayram called on officials to perform their duty:
"According to the Turkish Penal Code, persons who smuggle waste into the country without permission shall be sentenced to imprisonment from one to three years. We call on the Ministry of Environment and Urbanism to ban the import of waste in order not to spread environmental crimes caused by imported plastic waste in Turkey, and to produce policies in accordance with the law on this issue."
About 500 tons of waste plastic and garbage stored in Kemalpaşa were also claimed to contain hazardous waste class materials, according to a report by the daily Evrensel. Recep Karaman, the chairperson of the Street Waste Collectors Association, said that the waste contains hazardous items that pose deadly risks to the environment and health, called "Code Red".
Turkey is among three countries receiving the most plastic waste
Following China's ban on plastic imports in 2018, plastic waste was mostly sent to Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand, according to a report by Greenpeace East Asia.
But after those countries quickly imposed import restrictions, waste began to be exported to Indonesia, India and Turkey.
According to the report, Turkey's imports rose from 4 thousand tons per month in early 2016 to 33 thousand tons per month in early 2018. Imports declined to 20 NIM tons per month in mid-2018 and remained steady. (AS/VK)