Evaluation of Turkey's status in terms of compliance with the requirements of the Stockholm Convention

---

Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Mühendislik Fakültesi, Çevre Mühendisliği Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2014

Öğrenci: ESRA ŞILTU

Danışman: İPEK İMAMOĞLU

Özet:

Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are stable, toxic compounds released into the environment due to anthropogenic activities. POPs can accumulate in fatty tissues of living organisms and become concentrated up the food chain, posing a serious threat to environment and human health. Once they are released, POPs participate in long-range transport and can have a widespread effect. Stockholm Convention on POPs, which was adopted in 2001 and entered into force in 2004, is a global treaty to take measures against this global pollution threat. Currently there are 23 POPs listed by the Convention. Turkey has officially become a party to the Convention as of 12 January 2010, resulting in many responsibilities including prohibition/elimination/restriction of use of certain POPs, environmentally sound management of stockpiles/wastes, monitoring of POPs levels and preparation and revision a of national implementation plan. This study aims to evaluate Turkey’s status in terms of compliance with these requirements of the Stockholm Convention. For this purpose, a gap analysis is conducted and a critical evaluation of the actions listed in the first National Implementation Plan of Turkey is presented. As a result, a series of recommendations like determining a chemicals management policy, revision and update of the current legislations and preparation of new legislations, establishment of feasible inventory, monitoring and pollution release and transfer register systems are put forth for better compliance with the Convention requirements. This study is expected to contribute to the establishment of a road map for the control and elimination of POPs in the nation.