Recent developments
The Regulation on Waste Control was recently amended to introduce new waste control procedures. The amendments were published on the Official Gazette and entered into force on March 23, 2017.
Background
The Regulation on Waste Control is the main piece of legislation governing the control of waste, other than specific types of waste which are separately regulated; such as waste batteries, waste packages, medical waste, and waste electrical and electronic equipment.
The Regulation on Waste Control, in general, regulates the procedures, requirements and obligations of municipalities and waste producers in relation to collecting, transferring, reusing, recycling and disposal of waste.
What’s new?
The amendments to the Regulation on Waste Control introduce changes to waste control procedures, including the following:
- An electronic system (“Environmental Information System”) will be established by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization to collect and evaluate declarations and notifications made regarding environment management.
- The Regulation on Waste Control now imposes a new obligation to submit a notification form and movement document form (attached as Annex 5/A and Annex 5/B respectively) for international movements/shipments of waste.
- Obligations of municipalities now also include the requirement to establish and operate a transfer station for municipal waste, if necessary.
- Waste producers should now obtain approval from the provincial directorates of the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization for their waste management plans. Additionally, waste producers are also obligated to inform the provincial directorates of any accident within 24 hours and submit a report on the relevant accident within 30 calendar days.
- The procedure for temporary storage of waste has been regulated in more detail. Except for medical wastes, the maximum period of temporary storage has been set as six months for hazardous wastes and one year for other waste. Waste producers who produce less than 1000 kilograms of hazardous waste in a month will be exempt from temporary storage approval requirement.
- Institutions authorized by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization to ensure proper collection, reuse and disposal of waste will be audited by independent auditing institutions and the audit reports will be presented to the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization.
Conclusion
Companies should carefully review the amendments to the Regulation on Waste Control, take note of how the new provisions will affect their operations in Turkey, and take the necessary steps to ensure compliance regarding waste control.
