Adana (Turkey) (AFP) – Surrounded by mandarin orchards, the banks of the canal where Ibrahim Yildiz takes his sheep to graze, in the Turkish province of Adana, look like something out of a postcard, if it weren't for the mountains of plastic waste.

First modification: 10/11/2026 - 08:50

"It's been like this for ten years. Here we call it the dirty canal. My sheep no longer give milk," says the 65-year-old shepherd.

Turkey, the main destination for plastic waste in the European Union with 510,000 tons imported in 2025, in addition to 140,000 tons from the United Kingdom, has become "Europe's dumping ground," environmental defenders denounce at the gates of COP31, which started on Monday in Antalya.

This trade, valued in 2025 at 94 million euros (about 105 million dollars) by the European Commission, causes pollution of the Mediterranean and agricultural lands, mainly with non-recyclable plastics.

They end up in mountains of waste abandoned in nature or burned in the open, AFP found.

Among the poorly crushed waste, its origin can be guessed: a container of French ham, a package of Austrian potato chips, a bag of British tomato sauce...

Almost 60% of this waste is transported to the southern Turkish province of Adana, where some 170 recycling companies operate amid fertile lands that produce more than a third of Turkey's citrus fruits.

- 'Ecological disaster' -

According to marine biologist Sedat Gundogdu, from the Microplastics Research Group (GRM), the particles drift to the Mediterranean, where they have accumulated.

"We have measured a concentration of microplastics in the Mediterranean up to 65 times higher than the levels observed until now. Up to 93% comes from the shredding of waste in recycling centers," he says.

"It is an ecological disaster because it is permanent. Once it reaches the sea, the entire Mediterranean is contaminated," he explains.

Turkish Environment Minister Murat Kurum denied to AFP the import of waste and said the material was recyclable.

"We do not authorize imports of waste at all (...). What comes in? Crushed granulated material, which is used as raw material," he declared on October 23.

Where we have detected illegal imports of waste, "we closed the identified companies and imposed sanctions," he added.

For Gundogdu, fines and inspections remain insufficient.

"We need to put an end to the waste trade once and for all, it is a new form of colonialism," he denounces.

"Only 9% of plastics are recyclable. Trying to recycle a material designed to be thrown away is expensive. That is why Europe sends them to other countries," he adds.

'We can't breathe'

In Kucukdikili, a disadvantaged neighborhood in Adana, residents are fed up and accuse recycling companies of burning waste in the open. They attribute it to accidental fires.

According to a GRM count, nearly 200 fires occur each year in Turkish recycling plants.

"Adana is not Europe's dumping ground," residents chanted during a demonstration in August.

Murat Esin lives next to a recycling plant. He has even complained to the Presidency, but to no avail.

"We can't breathe because of the smell and the ashes that cover everything. Cancer cases are multiplying in the neighborhood. But no one listens to us," he says.

"Incineration is the only way these companies can get rid of non-recyclable waste for free," denounces environmental activist Yasar Gokoglu.

"Perhaps Europeans will lighten their burden of conscience by sorting garbage. But they must know that their waste ends up poisoning us," declares the activist.

"Zero waste", promoted by a foundation created by the Turkish first lady, Emine Erdogan, will be one of the central themes of the COP31 negotiations, according to the Turkish Environment Minister.

"Plastic waste imported into our country for recycling must be treated without damaging the environment," Samed Agirbas, president of the Zero Waste foundation, told AFP.

However, the EU's ban on exporting plastic waste to non-OECD countries starting November 21 could increase these flows to Turkey, a member of the organization.

"COP31 offers an opportunity" for Türkiye if it calls for an end to the waste trade, says Sedat Gundogdu.

© 2026 AFP

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