Quantification of Turkey's wasted, landfilled, recycled and combusted PET

Abstract

In this study, Turkey's polyethylene terephthalate (PET) consumption and amounts of PET recycled, combusted (for power generation) and landfilled are estimated using novel semi -empirical models based on different scenarios. It is pinpointed that significant economic gain and environmental benefits could be obtained from Turkey's waste PET. It is calculated that an economic volume of nearly 170 and 25 million US$ could be generated from Turkey's recycled and combusted waste PET in 2030, respectively. Moreover, an economic worth of nearly 375 million US$ could be generated in 2030 if Turkey's landfilled waste PET is recovered and recy-cled. Results given in this study clearly showed that recycling is superior to incineration and landfilling for processing PET and other plastic wastes of Turkey. It is believed that the analysis, methodology and semi-empirical models given in this study could be used by researchers around the world to analyze their countries waste PET problem.