Turkey, not enough recycling plants for e-waste

Turkey produces 539,000 tons of electronic waste every year and the country needs more facilities to process these materials, particularly refrigerators, a sector professional said at a recent panel as Hurriyet daily reports. Television sets, computer monitors and cellular phones make up the majority of the 539,000 tons of total electronic waste in the country, said Exitcom General Manager Murat Ilgar, at the Electronic Waste Management panel. ''The cities that produce the most waste are Istanbul, Kocaeli and Ankara. On average seven kilograms and 21 grams of electronic waste are generated per person in Turkey. This waste is processed at 21 facilities based in Turkey,'' he said. There are no recycling facilities for waste refrigerators in the country, he said, adding that new recycling plants should be established for electronic waste. Exitcom provides services in the field of waste electric and electronic equipment recovery and provides its services in Hanover and the northwestern province of Kocaeli in Turkey. Disposal of data on recycled computer hard disks is important for data security, Ilgar also said