Turkey's DOA system gathers 18.8 million beverage containers in 10 days

The Deposit‑Return (DOA) system, launched on 1 July under the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change, operates in 81 provinces and 973 districts. Within ten days, 1 million 992 thousand users returned 18 million 775 thousand plastic, glass and aluminium beverage packages, earning a 1 TL incentive per item that is credited to a digital wallet.

The programme aims to recycle the roughly 25 billion beverage containers produced annually in Turkey, targeting a 50 % recovery rate initially and 80 % once fully mature. Officials project the system will generate about 30 billion TL for the economy each year, create up to 20 000 jobs, cut greenhouse‑gas emissions by roughly 37 000 tonnes, save 1.3 billion kWh of energy and avoid 3.6 million barrels of oil. Businesses that register by the end‑October will receive a 0.20 TL incentive per returned container.

The rapid uptake demonstrates strong public interest in the incentive‑based recycling model and sets a national record for container collection.