On March 11, 2026, it was reported that Turkey is pushing forward with a comprehensive regulation to phase out single-use plastics in order to promote environmental improvement and accelerate its transition to sustainable development.
The regulation, drafted by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, is currently in the draft stage and is expected to officially take effect by the end of 2026 after soliciting opinions from industry leaders, NGOs, and other stakeholders.
Turkey: Ban on Single-Use Plastics by the End of the Year
The regulation is based on the EU's 2019 Single-Use Plastics Directive, with a core focus on banning common single-use items such as plastic cutlery, plates, straws, and plastic-handled cotton swabs. It also imposes restrictions on food containers and beverage cups made of expanded polystyrene (EPS), aligning with the measures taken by other European countries such as France, Germany, and Spain.
The new draft regulations target the most common single-use plastic items:
🍴 Plastic cutlery (forks, knives, spoons)
🍽️ Plastic plates
🥤 Plastic cups
🧃 Plastic straws
👂 Cotton swabs (with plastic handles)
Future measures will also cover some plastic products, including:
🧻 Wet wipes
🧹 Cleaning towels
📦 Cargo bags
The policy explicitly encourages the promotion of sustainable alternatives such as glass, ceramics, wood, and cardboard. The ministry estimates that this will reduce carbon emissions by 1.5 million tons annually and save approximately 1.5 billion Turkish lira (230 million yuan) in waste management costs. Stricter labeling requirements will be introduced later, setting consumption targets for composite beverage cups, food containers, wet wipes, and all plastic bags used for transportation.
This initiative stems from Turkey's severe plastic pollution situation; in 2022, the country's single-use plastic consumption exceeded 709,000 tons and has continued to rise since then. This ban is also an important part of Turkey's "Zero Waste Project" and the "National Circular Economy Strategy and Action Plan," which came into effect in October 2025 and set specific targets for reducing single-use plastics, marine debris, and microplastics by 2028.
The public has shown strong support for the policy. A joint survey by the Turkish Ministry of Environment and the Turkish Statistical Institute showed that over 76% of citizens support restricting single-use plastic products, and 80% of the public favor switching to reusable materials such as metal and ceramics.
This high level of public support has laid a solid foundation for the policy's implementation. The implementation of this ban will reshape Turkey's production, distribution, and consumption patterns of single-use plastics, helping it achieve a green transition and align with EU environmental standards.
Other EU countries' related measures:
France is gradually promoting plastic reduction, banning single-use plastic tableware and promoting reusable tableware, aiming to eliminate all single-use plastics by 2040, and temporarily postponing the ban on single-use plastic cups to 2030.
Germany has levied a tax on single-use plastics, established a special fund for waste management, and banned the free provision of ultra-thin plastic shopping bags.
Spain has banned the sale of single-use plastic tableware, promoted the sale of bulk food, and levied special taxes on plastic packaging.
Italy has officially banned the sale of all non-biodegradable single-use plastic products, including plates, straws, and beverage stirrers. Violators face hefty fines, while businesses using environmentally friendly alternatives receive tax credits.
The Netherlands has levied taxes on single-use plastic cups and food packaging for takeout since 2023, and banned the use of single-use plastic food packaging in restaurants from 2024. It encourages the provision of reusable alternatives and only allows businesses that meet recycling standards to continue using single-use plastic packaging.
Brussels, Belgium, has completely banned single-use plastic bags thinner than 50 micrometers, including bio-based and compostable bags, urging residents to use reusable packaging such as cloth and glass. Supermarkets have removed single-use plastic tableware from their shelves and promoted paper and stainless steel alternatives.
Portugal imposes additional fees on plastic-packaged takeout food in the catering and retail industries and also imposes taxes on aluminum food packaging to reduce single-use plastic use.
China's Measures for Plastic Pollution Control and Progress of the Ecological and Environmental Code
China attaches great importance to plastic pollution control and has established a comprehensive governance system. It has successively issued policy documents such as the "Opinions on Further Strengthening Plastic Pollution Control" and the "14th Five-Year Plan Action Plan for Plastic Pollution Control," advancing the control work according to the approach of "banning and restricting some, replacing and recycling some, and standardizing some."
It has clarified three phased goals for 2020, 2022, and 2025, gradually prohibiting the production and sale of non-compliant products such as ultra-thin plastic shopping bags and disposable foamed plastic tableware, promoting biodegradable plastics and green alternatives such as "bamboo-based plastics," and strengthening supervision and law enforcement in the production and distribution sectors to strictly investigate violations. At the same time, China is actively improving its standards system, formulating and issuing more than 30 national standards in the field of biodegradable plastics, promoting the development of alternative industries and technological innovation, and contributing to the reduction and recycling of plastic pollution at its source.
Regarding legislative guarantees, the compilation of the Ecological and Environmental Code has entered the crucial third review stage and will be submitted to the Fourth Session of the 14th National People's Congress for a vote on March 12. The third draft of the bill further improves the relevant regulations on plastic pollution control, clarifies the core principles of the circular economy of "reduction, reuse, and recycling", strengthens the extended producer responsibility system, expands the scope of control over single-use products, adds policy adjustment tools such as taxation, and proposes a "harmless" requirement for biodegradable alternatives. At the same time, it reserves interfaces for the expansion of relevant regulations on plastic pollution control, providing solid legal support for the whole life cycle governance of plastic pollution. In the future, it will further improve the relevant clauses on responsible entities and industry regulations to enhance the operability of the legislation.
