Türkiye has achieved energy savings equivalent to the annual electricity needs of 54 million households through its Zero Waste Project, the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change said Monday.

The country has recorded major gains in environment, energy, greenhouse gas emissions, and waste storage since the Zero Waste Movement was launched in 2017, according to a ministry statement. To date, 217,000 buildings and facilities have implemented the Zero Waste Management System.

The national recycling rate, which stood at 13% in 2017, climbed to 36.08% in 2024 and 37.53% in 2025. Türkiye aims to raise this figure to 60% by 2035 and 70% by 2053. As part of the movement, 28 million people have received awareness training.

Between 2017 and the end of 2025, a total of 90 million tons of recyclable waste were processed, including 36.1 million tons of paper and cardboard, 10.2 million tons of plastic, 3.5 million tons of glass, 9.6 million tons of metal, and 30.6 million tons of organic and other waste.

The waste collected through the project has yielded 270 billion kilowatt-hours of energy savings, equivalent to the annual electricity needs of 54 million households. It has also saved two trillion liters of water, matching Istanbul's two-year water consumption, and 60 billion liters of petroleum, exceeding the total annual fuel consumption of all vehicles in Türkiye.

The initiative has also reclaimed waste storage space equivalent to approximately 55,000 football fields, prevented the cutting of 613 million trees, equal to 7% of Türkiye's forests, and avoided 180 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions, corresponding to the annual carbon footprint of around 36 million vehicles.

Under the Zero Waste Blue project, over 325,000 tons of marine litter have been collected and disposed of as of 2026, clearing the equivalent of 23,000 truckloads of waste from the seas. Türkiye also maintained its third-place global ranking with 577 Blue Flag beaches.

In December 2022, the UN General Assembly adopted the "Zero Waste" resolution, led by Türkiye and co-sponsored by 105 countries, proclaiming March 30 as the International Day of Zero Waste. First Lady Emine Erdogan delivered the keynote address at the first observance of the day in 2023 at the UN General Assembly Hall and currently chairs the UN Advisory Board of Eminent Persons on Zero Waste. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan became the first signatory of the Global Zero Waste Goodwill Declaration.