Mercan 100th Year Climate and Environment Science Center, which operates under the Mersin Metropolitan Municipality Climate Change and Zero Waste Department, has begun training students on zero waste management within the scope of the “We are Uniting for Plastic-Free Mersin Beaches” project. With the project for which the Metropolitan Municipality was awarded a grant within the scope of the REMEDIES-2 program financed by the European Union (EU), students are examining all the mechanisms in the center, starting with the “Smart Waste Automat” installed in the Mercan Science Center.
1200 students will receive training for zero waste awareness
In order to increase citizen awareness, educational activities will be organized for 100 students between the ages of 6-18 at the 1200th Year Mercan Climate and Environment Science Center on waste separation, recycling, recovery and zero waste. In this context, 440 students were hosted at the center. The students first received information about the Smart Waste Automat system and tried it by throwing their plastic bottles into the automat. The students then examined the climate and environment themed systems at the Mercan Science Center with the help of teachers.
With such projects, the Metropolitan Municipality aims to both reduce plastic production in the city and ensure the recycling of produced plastics; with the zero waste management process carried out, it is aimed to make the city's people environmentally sensitive and to create a sustainable environment.
Dr. Altun: “The Smart Waste Automat system is a project implemented for the first time in Mersin.”
Environmental Engineer Dr. Zeki Altun, who serves as Zero Waste Chief at the Metropolitan Municipality Climate Change and Zero Waste Department, stated that they continue their zero waste management studies within the scope of the “Unite for Plastic-Free Mersin Beaches” project, which was awarded a grant by the REMEDIES consortium financed by the European Union, and said, “In our Climate and Environment Science Center, we hosted 1200 of the 440 students we aimed to host within the scope of the project for the purpose of education and awareness. At the end of the training, we gave our students water bottles so that they would avoid single-use plastics, and we also gave them flower pots made from the plastics they brought and compost bags obtained from our municipality activities. In this way, we created awareness and consciousness in them and also ensured that they would stay away from single-use plastics.”
Emphasizing that the Smart Waste Automat system is a project implemented for the first time in Mersin under the leadership of Mersin Metropolitan Municipality, Altun said, “Thanks to this project, our students who visit our Science Center can throw the plastics they bring with them into the Smart Automat. This smart automat is a smart integrated automation device that we can obtain data on how many plastics are collected. It is also a smart machine equipped with photovoltaic panels and obtains some of its electricity directly from solar panels.”
Students learn by experiencing at the Coral Science Center
Kaan Poyraz Aldemir, one of the students who visited the center, said, “When we first arrived, they gave us information about the Smart Automat. First, you scan the barcode of the bottle, then you put it there and it records how many you threw away. Then it sends the bottles to recycling. In this way, a waste-free environment is created. Mercan Science Center is a great place for children.”
Zeynep Deniz, one of the students, said, “I know that there are such machines abroad. I also wanted them to come to Türkiye. I was very happy. We are making flower pots by recycling plastic bottles. I will tell my family and friends about what I have learned here.”
Müzeyyen Bera Yıldız said that they learned many things at the center and said, “This is my first time coming. It is a very nice place. They recycle and contribute to the world. We do not pollute our seas either.” Yıldız, who also experienced the Smart Waste Automat, said, “Thanks to this, we contribute to recycling.”
