From September 18th to 22nd, MedWaves hosted a delegation from the Republic of Turkey’s Ministry of Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change, along with the Deep Project Managers. MedWaves, serving as a Consortium Partner in this project, offered Technical Assistance for the Assessment of Turkey’s Potential in Transitioning to a Circular Economy.

The Deep Project aims to promote the transition to a circular economy in order to enhance resource and waste managementacross Türkiye, strengthen the country’s corporate and technical capabilities in line with the EU Circular Economy Model, and develop a comprehensive and country-specific National Strategy and Action Plan.

Study Visit: The MedWaves team involved in this project made significant efforts to arrange meetings throughout a week, not only with public authorities but also with non-governmental organizations and public-private stakeholders. This 2nd Study Visit involved the participation of a multisectoral group of actors aiming at showcasing how Circular Economy is being implemented in Catalonia at various levels.

• Alfred Vara, Teresa Guerrero and Maria Vidal (Agència de Residus de Catalunya, ARC) share their extensive knowledge and experience regarding waste prevention-management, selective waste collection, and by-products.
• Giorgio Mosangini, MedWaves‘ Green Entrepreneurship & Civil Society Team Leader presented The Switchers’ platform elaborating on the challenges that the circular start-ups involved face (specially in accessing to finance) and how MedWaves is actively assisting in overcoming these barriers. In terms of policies and practices to prevent plastic pollution in the Mediterranean, Pedro Fernández provided multiple examples of pilot actions and initiatives that we are currently developing in collaboration with public authorities and organizations.

During the following days, the Turkish delegation had the opportunity to:

(i) Get a closer look at the remarkable work carried out by the Barcelona City Council – Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona in the field of waste prevention and its best practices, such as the Green Points Network and the User Card Application.

(ii) Gather valuable information and advice on landfill management and the collection of special waste from the Trini Jove Foundation, whose primary goal is social work insertion. Additionally, they learned about the logistics and treatment of waste electrical and electronic equipment at the Centre de Valorització de Residus d’Aparells Elèctrics i Electrònics (Electrorecycling).

(iii) Learn from the technical assistance on waste management implemented by MedCities in Tunis through the ASIMA Tunis initiative.

(iv) Gain insights into existing packaging waste collection practices developed by EcoEmbes in Spain.

The Study Visit also included on-site visits to Roba Amiga Cooperativa (textile waste), Espigoladors Foundation (a non-profit organization fighting against food waste), Vallès Circular, and the Consorci de Zona Franca. These visits provided an invaluable opportunity to broaden the Turkish delegation’s knowledge and acquire valuable technical insights.

More about the Project: 

• Project Name: Technical Assistance for Assessment of Türkiye’s Potential on Transition to Circular Economy (DEEP Project) EuropeAid/140562/IH/SER/TR
• Budget: 3,198,250.00 Euro
• Project Duration: 36 months
• Start Date: 07.02.2022
• Opening Event: 23.05.2022
• Contracting Authority: Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, General Directorate of European Union and Foreign Relations, Department of European Union Investments
• End Recipient: Circular Economy and Waste Management Department
• Consortium Partners:
  • Leader – DAI Global Austria GmbH & Co KG
  • Het Groene Brein (HGB), (Holland)
  • Holland Circular Hotspot (HCH) (Holland)
  • The Regional Activity Centre for Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP/RAC)
  • ICLEI European Secretariat GmbH (ICLEI)
  • IPCEU International Project Consultancy Inc. (Türkiye)
  • Çınar Engineering Consulting Inc. (Türkiye)