The wife of Turkish President Emine Erdoğan and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres signed a statement of goodwill in order to spread the “Zero Waste” project in the world.
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The statement of goodwill was signed at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City as part of the fight against the climate crisis.
During his meeting with the wife of the Turkish President, Guterres affirmed that the United Nations is following up with appreciation of the efforts related to the zero waste project sponsored by Erdogan, and said: “Communities have begun to produce a lot of waste, which has become a vital problem today. Therefore, your zero waste project carries great value and impact.”
Guterres called on United Nations countries to expand the Turkish zero waste project on a global scale, within the framework of the environmental protection project, which is one of the most important issues that the United Nations is striving to solve.
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He pointed out that the Zero Waste Project offers valuable solutions to waste, which is considered an ethical problem.
For her part, Emine Erdoğan expressed her wishes for an increase in the number of countries that signed the statement and for the project to expand on a global scale.
Before signing the statement, the wife of the Turkish President presented Guterres a painting with his picture made of pieces of waste tissue by the Turkish artist Deniz Sagdac.
In this context, Emine Erdoğan participated in an event held at the “Turkish House” under the title “The World is Our Common Home: The Importance of Zero Waste in Combating the Climate Crisis.”
In a speech during the event, she emphasized that Guterres closely follows and supports the Turkish Zero Waste Project.
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She said, “During the meeting, we decided to take concrete steps and signed a historic text, and I am confident that the statement of goodwill we signed will be a new beginning in the world.”
Erdogan expressed her deep thanks to the Turkish people for adopting “zero waste” with great passion, stressing that the project received great support from high-ranking officials at the United Nations.
The project is based on changing the consumption habits of citizens, separating waste from the source and then recycling it, with the aim of reaching the waste recycling rate to 60 percent by 2030.
Through the project, 397 million tons of raw materials, 315 million kilowatt-hours of energy, 345 million cubic meters of water and 50 million barrels of oil were saved between 2017-2020.
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The project also contributed to collecting 17 million tons of usable waste, reducing 2 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions, and saving 209 million trees during the same period.
