Waste

Istanbul’s deposit system lets you pay transit fare with recyclables

Photo: Twitter.com/isbakas

Published

October 30, 2018

Country

,

Comments

comments icon

1

Share

Published:

October 30, 2018

Country:

,

Comments:

comments icon

1

Share

As cities around the world start deploying deposit systems, Istanbul, with a population of nearly 15 million, has taken its efforts to increase recycling rates a step further. It now allows residents to top up public transportation cards by trading in plastic bottles or aluminum beverage cans.

As part of the Turkish city’s deposit system solution, the city transportation pass, known as an Istanbul Card (Instanbul Kart), can be topped up at reverse vending machines, called Smart Mobile Waste Transfer Centers, which can scan and assign a value to the packaging waste before crushing, shredding, and sorting it.

Once a user inserts an empty container, the machine’s sensor scans it to assess the size of the recyclable, with a 0.33-liter plastic bottle returning 2 Turkish cents (kurus), a 0.5-liter bottle 3 cents, a 1-liter bottle 6 cents, and a 1.5-liter bottle 9 cents. The machine will top up an Istanbul Card with 7 cents for a 0.33-liter beverage can and 9 cents for a 0.5-liter can.

With a single fare priced at TRY 2.60 (EUR 0.41), it takes depositing at least 28 plastic 1.5 liter-bottles or 0.5-liter cans to get a full fare top-up.

The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality plans to install at least 100 of these machines at 25 locations by end-2018, while one is already operational at the ITU-Ayazaga metro station.

With the smart machines, Istanbul’s waste management department and the municipality’s Smart City Technologies Company (Isbak) will contribute to environmental protection, the municipality has said, according to reports.

Other cities in the world that enable paying for public transportation with plastic waste include Beijing, China, Surabaya, Indonesia, and Sydney, Australia.

Proven waste collection method

Deposit refund systems are a proven waste collection method that guarantees high material recycling rates, which is why they are recommended in strategic documents of many international organizations, Anna Larsson, Director, Circular Economy Project Development, RELOOP, recently wrote in an op-ed for Balkan Green Energy News.

10 European countries have a deposit refund system for beverage containers: Sweden (since 1984), Iceland (since 1989), Germany (since 2003), Finland (since 1996), Norway (since 1999), Denmark (since 2002), the Netherlands (since 2005), Estonia (since 2005), Croatia (since 2006) and Lithuania, where the system was introduced in 2016 and resulted with 92% collection rate in the second year of the operation, Larsson wrote.

Comments (1)
chess / December 9, 2018

100 small pvc drinking water pvc bottles worth, is only 1 bus travel.
So it is not very attractive even for the students.
Psychologically it may effect the population,

Enter Your Comment
Please wait... Please fill in the required fields. There seems to be an error, please refresh the page and try again. Your comment has been sent.

Related Articles

bih power plant kakanj desulfurization agreement

Chinese-led consortium to build desulfurization unit at BiH’s power plant Kakanj

19 December 2024 - Power utility EPBiH and a consortium led by China’s Dongfang Electric International Corporation have signed an agreement to build a new unit

Air pollution responsible for over 400,000 deaths in Europe

Air pollution responsible for over 400,000 deaths in Europe

13 December 2024 - According to EEA, European citizens are exposed to excessive concentrations of harmful air pollutants, posing significant health risks

Vjosa campaign victory small hydropower plants Shushica river

Vjosa campaign declares victory against small hydropower plants on Shushica river

13 December 2024 - A court in Albania scrapped the project for small hydropower plants on the Shushica upon a complaint by locals and environmentalists

birds biodiversity

Greece suspends three wind projects over biodiversity concerns

11 December 2024 - Environmentalists urge suspension of all wind projects in areas affected by the 2023 wildfires to preserve sensitive bird species.