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Bottles dropped into Deposit Return System (DOA) reverse vending machines are just the start of a much larger industrial chain, according to a Z Raporu report published by GZT.
While consumers assume the packaging simply goes into storage, it in fact feeds a hidden ecosystem generating millions of liras in revenue.
Although most consumers assume the packaging thrown into the machine simply goes to a basic storage area, a backdrop ecosystem generating millions of liras in revenue has been established.
The Z Raporu team paid a visit to the pilot waste collection facility located in Sakarya to shed light on what lies behind these devices.
The facility functions as an advanced technology hub, where thousands of packages collected from regional luxury hotels, restaurants, and neighborhood recycling machines are brought in via specialized transport vehicles.
The classification procedures, which historically demanded extensive manual labor and time, have been completely transitioned to automated systems. Consignments moving along the conveyor belts are precisely categorized within seconds by material composition, coloration, and specific type utilizing sophisticated infrared sensor technology.
Once segregated into their respective material classifications, these plastic and metallic packages are directed into heavy-duty industrial presses. Upon exiting the machinery, the processed materials are transformed into massive, high-density compressed waste cubes that nearly equal human height.
The real story lies in the economic value this process generates. Inside the facility, massive compressed bales—stacked like walls—average around 250 kilograms each.
Under the conditions of the circular economy and today's raw material market, the economic equivalent of a single plastic cube at this weight means exactly ₺25,000. Even in this pilot facility in Sakarya alone, dozens of cubes are obtained during the day.
When observing the consumption figures across Türkiye, the picture that emerges points to a massive potential. More than 20 billion units of deposit-eligible packaging are consumed in our country every year.
Although the system only recently launched, this figure alone hints at the scale the market could eventually reach.
Current infrastructure works and pilot regions are actually in the nature of warm-up laps for a much larger national project.
Industry representatives and experts predict that once the system begins operating at full capacity nationwide and the return machine network penetrates every neighborhood, 7 billion to 8 billion units of bottles annually will join the recycling chain in the PET plastic category alone.
This large-scale recycling operation does more than turn waste into revenue—it also eases Türkiye's current account deficit by cutting fossil fuel use and reducing reliance on imported plastic raw materials.
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