07.06.2026 01:30
Samed Ağırbaş, President of the Zero Waste Foundation, announced that the number of visitors exceeded 400,000 on the third day of the Zero Waste Festival held at Atatürk Airport, with a target of 500,000. The festival is the first zero-waste festival to operate on renewable energy.
Chairman of the Zero Waste Foundation and COP31 High-Level Climate Champion Samed Ağırbaş announced that the number of visitors to the Zero Waste Festival held at Atatürk Airport exceeded 400,000 as of the third day.
Under the auspices of Emine Erdoğan, Chair of the United Nations (UN) Zero Waste High-Level Advisory Board and Honorary Chair of the Zero Waste Foundation, the Zero Waste Festival, realized in collaboration with the Zero Waste Foundation and the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, continues on its third day.
Samed Ağırbaş, Chairman of the Zero Waste Foundation and COP31 High-Level Climate Champion, speaking about the festival held at Atatürk Airport, for which Anadolu Agency is the Global Communication Partner, said, "The number of participants in our festival has exceeded 400,000 as of today, we aim to exceed 500,000 tonight, and we anticipate a large turnout tomorrow. There are participants from 183 countries at our Zero Waste Forum, and we are conducting both our forum and festival with good participation."
Ağırbaş stated that the zero waste efforts carried out under the auspices of Emine Erdoğan attract international attention, saying, "People from 183 countries came upon the invitation of Mrs. Emine Erdoğan. Ministers, former heads of state, and representatives of international organizations are discussing the future of the world under the umbrella of the Zero Waste Forum."
OVER 1500 EVENTS IN ISTANBUL ZERO WASTE WEEK
Ağırbaş, noting that they have created a safe area in the festival grounds where citizens can spend quality time with their families, provided information that over 1500 events are being organized within the scope of Istanbul Zero Waste Week, declared in collaboration with the Istanbul Governorship.
Reminding that Istanbul Zero Waste Week will end tomorrow, Ağırbaş said, "In this context, more than 5 million of our citizens will have participated in our events. 16 million Istanbulites have captured a good synergy. We want this synergy to continue and the movement that started here to impact the world's future."
THE FIRST FESTIVAL IN TURKEY MEETING ITS NEEDS FROM RENEWABLE ENERGY
Emphasizing that sustainability principles were taken as the basis in the festival's organization process, Ağırbaş continued as follows:
"We built the Zero Waste Festival as a festival completely free of waste, transformed, and meeting all its energy needs from renewable energy sources. It became the first festival in Turkey to meet its needs from renewable energy. We obtained all our energy here from renewable energy sources. We built this festival in collaboration with our Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources. In this context, I thank them and express my gratitude. Turkey has significant studies in energy transformation."
Ağırbaş noted that they are also conducting work to spread the festival model realized with renewable energy, and as the Zero Waste Foundation, they provide consultancy both in Turkey and in different parts of the world. In this context, they will encourage the meeting of energy needs from renewable sources in festivals to be organized in the future.
Ağırbaş explained that the waste generated in the Zero Waste Festival area is separated on-site with the support of local governments, organic waste is converted into compost, and other types of waste are separated on-site and sent to recycling facilities.
NO PET BOTTLES USED, THERMOSES DISTRIBUTED TO VISITORS
Underlining that no PET bottles were used at the festival, Ağırbaş said, "Glass thermoses were distributed to visitors. Our citizens met their water needs with these thermoses. We will not limit ourselves to these practices. We aim to spread this system in all our future work. We hope this will set an example for Turkey and the world."
Ağırbaş added that they organized the Zero Waste Festival and the Zero Waste Forum together with more than 500 stakeholders.