Construction of Balıkesir Solid Waste Management Project has been completed.

Construction of Balıkesir Solid Waste Management Project has been coordinated by the Department of EU Investments within Ministry of Environment and Urbanization. Taking over of Balıkesir Solid Waste Management Project was done on 15 May 2014.

The contract value of the Project is approximately 10.3 million Euro. In the scope of the contract, the following works activities were carried out:

• Construction of sanitary landfill
• Construction of compost plant
• Construction of medical sterilisation plant
• Construction of leachate treatment plant
• Construction of Material Recovery Facility (MRF)
• Construction of 2 transfer stations (Bigadiç and Susurluk)
• Rehabilitation of 7 dump sites (Balıkesir, İvrindi, Savaştepe, Bigadiç, Susurluk, Kepsut and Pamukçu).

A new centralized sanitary landfill will serve a population of approximately 444 000 inhabitants (in 2040). In total a waste volume of approximately 2.7 million tons shall be deposited in the new sanitary landfill during upcoming 30 years. A further 1.6 million tons shall be composted and approximately 1.5 million ton shall be recycled.  

With the implementation of the project, the following objectives will be achieved:

• Pollution of ground water, soil and air caused by current (unsanitary) dumpsites will be reduced;
• Public health risks and other negative effects such as bad odour, insects, rodents, fires, scattered waste from current wild dump sites will be reduced;
• Volume of biodegradable waste landfilled will be reduced from the currently high levels to the levels required by the Regulations;
• Number of recycled packaging waste will be increased which will contribute to meeting the objectives of the Regulations;
• Population in the project area will be served with proper waste disposal system;
• Clinical waste in the project area will be collected and disposed safely.