Green economy possible: Turkey's first lady

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Building an environment-friendly economy is possible by including humanitarian values in industry, production and technology, Turkey’s First Lady Emine Erdogan said on Saturday.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum's panel in Jordan, she underlined the world has to give up disposable products and prevent waste.

"Based on this fact, we have launched an environmental mobilization in Turkey," she said.

She added: "We sort waste at its source and recycle through the zero-waste project carried out under my patronage. We are trying to form a new culture of life."

Turkey’s zero-waste project, led by the first lady, is marked in the Environmental Performance Review Report of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

The first lady noted that in 15 months some 15,000 enterprises adopted the project.

She also said Turkey started charging money for plastic bags in all supermarkets for reducing plastic use.

"At the end of the first month, the use of plastic bags went down by 70% in our country," she said.

Erdogan stressed Turkey targets to raise its recycling rate to 60% by 2030.

"Our goal is to achieve savings that equal the yearly water and electricity consumption of a vast metropolis such as Istanbul," she added.

Touching on packaged foods, she asserted that this kind of foods cause health diseases.

"The cost of consuming packaged foods is high both for our bodies and the environment," she underlined.