Panorama of 20 Years in Waste Management: Türkiye's Changing Disposal Methods and the Bitlis Example

This study examines the transformation of municipal solid waste management in Türkiye between 2002 and 2022, using Bitlis province as a local case. Data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) show that primitive practices such as open burning and discharge into water bodies have been almost entirely abandoned, replaced by sanitary landfilling and licensed company operations. Nevertheless, landfilling still accounted for 67% of total waste in 2022, posing environmental risks including leachate and methane emissions. Recycling rose from 5–7% in 2002 to 13% in 2022, though this remains far below the EU average of 45–50%. At the same time, per capita daily waste generation declined by 2.1% annually, reflecting the impact of prevention policies. Economic analysis indicates that disposal and transportation costs made up about 44.5% of Türkiye’s environmental protection expenditures in 2022, equal to 0.65% of GDP. Statistical tests confirmed significant declines in high-risk methods such as burial and water discharge, while recycling and energy recovery showed no consistent upward trend. In Bitlis, uncontrolled dumping and open burning, once common in the early 2000s, have been replaced by sanitary landfilling and licensed disposal since the opening of a regional facility in 2018. Overall, findings reveal that Türkiye has made notable progress in reducing harmful disposal methods and expanding infrastructure. However, stronger investments in recycling, composting, and energy recovery are essential to mitigate climate impacts, strengthen the circular economy, and align with European Union waste management standards.