Multinational corporations and waste brokers exploit legal grey areas to offload low-grade waste onto Türkiye.

The report reveals how major EU exporters—including the UK, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands—take advantage of regulatory gaps to mislabel contaminated or mixed plastic as recyclable, circumventing EU and international laws. Türkiye’s weak enforcement, fragmented regulations, and entrenched corruption make it an easy target for both legal and illegal waste flows.

Ports like Adana, Mersin, and Ambarlı have become hotspots for plastic waste imports, with Adana alone handling over 60% of the national total. Satellite imagery, field interviews, and customs data consistently show open dumping, illegal burning, and hazardous storage of waste, much of which is unsuitable for recycling.

Multinational corporations and waste brokers exploit legal grey areas to offload low-grade waste onto Türkiye, bypassing their environmental responsibilities. Through subcontracting, blending of waste types, and obfuscating end destinations, they create a system of plausible deniability and profit. Organized crime groups further leverage this landscape through fraudulent recycling schemes, bribery, and the use of shell companies. Some operations have even been linked to Italian mafia groups and involve practices like carousel fraud, particularly within the UK’s PRN (Packaging Recovery Note) system.

Digital platforms, including Facebook and WhatsApp, are increasingly used to facilitate these illicit transactions, enabling anonymous, unregulated, and largely untraceable trade. Meanwhile, official visits to recycling facilities are often staged to hide non-compliance, making satellite imagery a vital verification tool.

To address these systemic issues, the report offers policy recommendations focused on strengthening enforcement, increasing transparency, and leveraging digital tools.

Key recommendations include: mandatory pre-export documentation checks, real-time digital tracking systems, enhanced financial scrutiny, and cross-border cooperation. Holding private sector actors accountable and targeting corrupt officials are also essential to dismantling these criminal networks.

ECO- SOLVE  plastic problem: European waste destined for Türkiye