İnan Mutlu shares striking data: Turkey could break record in plastic waste imports
Turkey's plastic waste imports continue to remain at high levels in recent years. Sharing data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), economist İnan Mutlu pointed out that imports approached 400 thousand tons in the first half of 2026, noting that a record could be broken by the end of the year.
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Data regarding Turkey's plastic waste imports has returned to the agenda.
Economist İnan Mutlu shared a graph based on TÜİK data illustrating the change in Turkey's plastic waste imports over the years.
According to Mutlu's post, Turkey imported approximately 699 thousand tons of plastic waste in 2025. In 2020, this amount reached the highest level on the chart at 756 thousand 985 tons.
Plastic waste imports, which stood at 64 thousand 321 tons in 2013, rose rapidly in subsequent years. Imports exceeded the 250 thousand ton level in 2017, surpassed 400 thousand tons in 2018, and went over 500 thousand tons in 2019.
Plastic waste imports, which hovered around 680 thousand tons in 2021 and 2022, fell to approximately 622 thousand tons in 2023. Imports began to rise again in 2024, reaching 698 thousand 917 tons in 2025.
According to TÜİK figures, Turkey imported nearly 700 thousand tons of plastic waste in 2025.
— İnan Mutlu (@inanmutlu1) August 11, 2026
In the first 6 months, plastic waste imports neared 400 thousand tons.
We will break the plastic waste import record this year. pic.twitter.com/fhG9YqzzVP
RECORD EXPECTATION FOR 2026
In a post on his social media account, İnan Mutlu stated that plastic waste imports approached 400 thousand tons in the first 6 months of 2026.
In his post, which he based on TÜİK data, Mutlu expressed that if the current trend continues, a new record could be broken in plastic waste imports in 2026.