Landfill diversion

The Zero-Waste Project has been a great success, making a large contribution to the Turkish economy, first lady Emine Erdoğan has said.

"The project has reached a point that it is beyond my dreams," the first lady said in an interview with Anadolu Agency, noting that people from all quarters of the society are aware of the Zero-Waste initiative.

The main goal of Turkey's Zero Waste regulation is to prevent waste, rather than waste recycling, said an expert on environment.

Greece is still far from reaching the European Union's recycling targets, introduced by the bloc in a bid to drastically reduce reliance on landfill sites for waste disposal.
The EU's medium-term goals are to recycle 50 percent of municipal waste by 2020 and around 65 percent by 2035, sending less than 10 percent to landfills.

Regulations on "Zero Waste Management System" which will be applied across the country were published on July 12 on the Official Gazette.

Bulgaria's National Council for Tripartite Cooperation has proposed new options for calculating the garbage fee in Bulgaria.

If the new rules become a reality, municipalities will have to choose between three options for calculating the fee, bTV reported.