| Abstract |
The human consumption behavior is the main parameter for the environmental pollution. Especially now in today's globalized world, using fast moving consumer goods has become more widespread, eventually resulting in a significant increase in the waste generation. This increase is ominously caused by the packaging wastes especially with its implicit economic value. The materials used in packaging industry are plastics, metal, glass, paper, wood and composites. The food and beverage packaging, which commonly uses plastic, metal, glass and composite materials has a market share amounting to approximately 70% in the overall packaging sector [1]. In 2018, 1,167.5 billion liters of packaged beverages were consumed worldwide [2]. With the above in mind, the packaging waste also has a detrimental impact to the pollution of the ecosystem unless they are not managed properly. Many countries try to solve this problem by collecting beverage packaging before they get mixed with other wastes and send the beverage packaging to recycling facilities. In Europe, 74% of glass, 80% of metal and 42% of plastic was recycled in 2016 and 2017 [1] [3]. However, these percentages are not enough to prevent pollution and ensure sustainability. According to Lebreton et al., each year 1.15 to 2.41 million tons of plastic waste streams from rivers to oceans [4]. There are several experimented options to solve this problem without causing a loss in the value of the relevant packaging material. In order to reproduce a packaging material, in the exact same form and quality with the materials produced from the raw material, the quality and status of the used material becomes rather important. Therefore, a specific method, among others, becomes prominent for the recollection of the used beverage packaging, before these become wasted and contaminated. This system is called "Deposit Refund System (DRS)". In the DRS, each beverage packaging shall have a certain deposit value and with each purchase the consumer shall pay that deposit value in addition to the product price. After the consumption of the beverage, the consumer returns the empty packaging and the deposit value is refunded to the consumer. This system leads the way to clean and effective collection of recyclable beverage packaging. Around the world, 45 countries are currently using the DRS and in average 88% of their beverage packaging are recycled via this system [5]. The DRS is a very complex system that concerns too many stakeholders. The success of the system depends on a clear structuring and outlining of the relationships, duties, authorities and responsibilities of each partaker. Accordingly, the legal framework shall set forth a comprehensive framework, in order to regulate all procedures and principles relating to the DRS. The main outcome of the study will be to determine the advantages of implementing the DRS in Turkey, for beverage packaging waste management. In addition, we will also analyze the governance models of DRS, where the DRS is run by an Operator. In most of the countries, this operator is generally a non-profit organization, established by beverage producers and retailers. In this study, we will also examine the alternative governance models, such as state owned and Public-Private Partnership (PPP) models. We have also focused on the PPP model, as an innovative and efficient tool and a suitable model for the performance of DRS system. We will further elaborate on the financial sustainability of the PPP projects and how to create "bankable projects". As an innovative model for the DRS, we created a well-structured finance model with resilience revenue stream in the PPP option for long-term public services. Accordingly, these should be taken into consideration during the establishment and the implementation of the DRS design. The DRS comprises of several operational steps, which are the collection of empty containers from consumers through reverse vending machines (RVMs) or manual return points, the transfer to scoring and bailing facilities. The DRS Operator shall be responsible for these operational processes. The countries who apply the DRS are relatively smaller than Turkey, by surface area and population. This difference creates a need for designing a DRS, based specifically on Turkey's needs and properties. For this purpose, relevant studies, sectoral and governmental reports about the DRS and Turkish packaging waste management system was researched and suggestions based on technical structure, governance model and legal background will be given as an output of the study. On the other hand, a very well-designed database operating software is necessary to measure all processes in the system and to combat counterfeiting and fraud. Another impressive impact of the DRS is that it is the proper and easiest way to adopt circular economy concept for communities, industries, and governments. Since one of the main purposes of circular economy is usage of waste material (such as packaging waste) as a raw material in different production fields, the implementation of the DRS would achieve this aim by definition. Segregated collection of wastes becomes a very important issue for the reproduction of new products from recycled materials. Such collection method is also significantly important for resource preservation, which is another crucial matter in circular economy. For an effective production process, the packaging waste is required to be clean and without any contamination. The DRS is one of the best implementation mechanisms for separate collection of packaging waste. European Commission has been working on circular economy and they submitted the New Circular Economy Action Plan in March 2020 [6]. This new plan aims to design entire life cycle of products while promoting circular economy processes, fostering sustainable consumption and aiming to keep resources available as much as possible in EU's economy. Lastly, we will also be considering and examining other environmental benefits of the DRS in Turkey. |
