European Union plastic waste exports to Turkey reached an all-time annual high of 503,000 tonnes in 2025, expanding by 19% year on year.

The scale of the growing problem is brought home by an assessment from Greenpeace Turkiye, "The Truth Behind the Rhetoric: The Invisible Face of Turkey's Zero Waste Policy", as cited by a bianet report.

Turkey still has the unfortunate distinction of being the top destination for European plastic waste exports by a wide margin. The consequent environmental headache – and the profits enjoyed by Turkish companies involved in processing shipments of plastic waste, frequently found dumped in unofficial waste sites around Turkey – has grown hugely since China eight years ago introduced a ban on importing such consignments.

The volume of plastic waste coming into Turkey from the 27 EU member states has in fact leapt by a massive 435-fold since 2004, according to the Greenpeace policy brief. 

The UK, which exited the EU in 2020, is also often accused of treating Turkey as a dumping ground for enormous volumes of its plastic waste, as it was by a Greenpeace analysis in late 2024, reported by IntelliNews.

“Zero waste” is a potentially highly embarrassing main agenda item for Turkey in relation to its co-hosting of the 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP31) with Australia, with the main event due to take place in the Turkish Mediterranean city of Antalya in November.

Berk Butan, the social and economic systems campaign lead for Greenpeace Turkiye, was reported as saying that hosting COP31 presents a "historic opportunity" for Turkey to move “zero waste” from rhetoric to actual policy transformation.

"Turkey became the largest destination for the EU's plastic garbage in 2025, the country's seas and coasts are being contaminated with microplastics, and EIA [environmental impact assessment] processes for new petrochemical complexes are being completed," Butan was quoted as saying, adding: "This gap between the rhetoric and the reality on the ground appears before us as a policy choice, a structural framing problem. We have a significant opportunity for policy change before us.

"Turkey, which will host COP31 in November 2026, aims to stand out by adding the zero waste theme to the action agenda of the summit. This is a historic moment where Turkey can show leadership and, by going beyond the narrative, initiate the changes that will make a real zero waste goal possible.

"Because a real zero waste goal is not possible by throwing plastic into a recycling bin or taking someone else's plastic waste, but by succeeding in not producing it at the source. The way to reach this goal begins with preventing waste imports, and in production decisions, investment choices, and the stance at the international negotiation table."