DOA system recovered 1.5 million packages on the first day

The Deposit-Required Packaging (DOA) system, implemented simultaneously across 81 provinces in Turkey, has created a wide public impact since its first day. Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Murat Kurum shared the first statistics regarding the system via social media platforms, expressing his satisfaction with the intense interest shown by citizens. Accordingly, the number of people who used the application on the first day reached 649 thousand 244, while the number of plastic, glass, and aluminum packages left at the return machines was recorded as 1 million 547 thousand 850. These figures revealed how deeply environmental awareness has taken root in society and how much practical steps in waste management are responded to.

The recycling initiative in question actually stands out as a product of comprehensive planning dating back much earlier. The DOA system was first started to be tested as a pilot region application in Sakarya province in February 2025. Following the positive results of the application in Sakarya, the system's coverage was expanded by switching to the "7 Regions 7 Provinces" model in July. After this phased expansion process, as of yesterday, the system was put into operation simultaneously across the entire country, namely in 81 provinces. This step is considered a successful example of a transition from pilot provinces to a national scale in environmental policies.

Along with the spread of the system, an economic regulation was also made to increase citizens' motivation towards the application. The deposit incentive fee per package, which was set at 25 kurus in previous pilot applications, was increased to 1 TL with the new period implemented in all 81 provinces. This four-fold increase made users more willing in terms of recycling and also directly affected the operational speed of the system. It is stated that one of the biggest factors behind the high return figures of the first day is this financial incentive.

The practical operational mechanism of the DOA system was designed in an extremely user-friendly way thanks to its technological infrastructure. For citizens to participate in the system, it is sufficient to download the DOA mobile application to their smartphones and complete a short registration process. After a personalized QR code is generated through the application, this code is scanned at the package return machines. After plastic, glass, and aluminum beverage packages bearing the DOA logo are dropped into the machine, the corresponding incentive fee for each package is instantly reflected to the user's digital wallet.

These accumulated digital funds offer flexible usage opportunities for users, supporting the sustainability of the system. The amounts accumulated in digital wallets can be withdrawn directly as cash from bank ATMs as well as used as a payment method at various shopping points. In the long term, this system is expected to lead to fundamental changes in Turkey's environment and economic policies. According to official targets, if the DOA system operates at full capacity, it is planned to recover approximately 25 billion beverage packages for recycling annually. It is estimated that this massive volume will provide a direct contribution of around 30 billion lira to the economy annually.