The Chairman of the Executive Board of PAGEV Yavuz Eroğlu and the Chairman of the Parliamentary Inquiry Commission on Waste Cycle Alessandro Bratti came together at a meeting. Then Eroğlu made an exclusive presentation to the European Commission.

The President of PAGEV Yavuz Eroğlu and the Chairman of the Parliamentary Inquiry Commission on Waste Cycle Alessandro Bratti came together at a meeting to discuss 'waste cycle'. They agreed on mutual experience and knowledge sharing between the European Commission and Turkish bureaucrats. Reuse of organic wastes with various innovative methods –instead of composting only– was mentioned at the meeting. Using biodegradable plastic bags to collect and separate biodegradable wastes from other wastes was among the other subjects.

Regarding waste recycling in Europe, following topics were discussed at the meeting:

• Plastic bags thicker than 70-80 microns are used in Europe.
• Oxo-degradable plastic bags are banned and paper bags or fabric bags are not used in Italy.
• 50-55 percent of the wastes is organic.
• In Italy, unrecorded landfills are created instead of investing in waste storage areas, and landfilling is still encouraged as the cheapest waste management solution.
• Even INTERPOL sets up rules against environmental problems.
• Value of unrecorded activities in the recycling sector is €10 billion per year in Italy. Legislations are inquired in order to avoid this situation. Laws are mitigated. Penalties are increased.
• There are good examples of waste management in the Nordic countries; but southern countries are inefficient except a few. South: no incineration, no regular waste storages, poor landfilling practices.
• Electronic wastes are exported off-the-book for tax avoidance.