A Guardian investigation reports that plastic waste exported from the UK is contributing to pollution in Turkey’s agricultural heartland. The outlet says waterway contamination is detected in a channel close to the Kemal Deniz recycling zone near Adana in southern Turkey. It reports that irrigation canals near the area contain microplastics and other plastic-related pollutants, which can wash into nearby agricultural fields after heavy rain and feed into a larger canal used for crop irrigation on the Çukurova plain.
The report cites data analyzed by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), an international NGO. It states that between May 2021 and July 2024, 13 British companies sent multiple shipments of household and supermarket plastic waste to the recycling zone, amounting to 52,000 tonnes. Separate figures in the coverage also say Britain exported 139,000 tonnes of waste to Turkey last year.
The article includes accounts from farmers who describe visible plastic debris and also report suspected impacts on water quality and fumes coming from upstream industrial and recycling activity. The investigation frames these findings as a burden on smallholders and poorer districts in Adana.
