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Turkey is preparing to host the UN climate summit with methane reduction high on its agenda, but satellite observations have uncovered a major problem at home. Several Turkish landfills are releasing exceptionally large amounts of methane, with the Silivri waste site near Istanbul emitting an average of 7.4 tonnes of the potent greenhouse gas every hour, according to a report published by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The emissions are large enough to be detected from space and highlight the gap between Turkey’s push for global methane action and the challenge of controlling emissions from its own waste sector.
Silivri landfill among the world’s major methane emitters
The Silivri landfill, which processes around 10,000 tonnes of waste each day, is the largest in Turkey. UCLA researchers analysed satellite data from the Carbon Mapper portal to identify the country’s 10 highest-emitting landfill sites. Their analysis found that Silivri was releasing methane at an average rate of 7.4 tonnes per hour, placing it among the largest individual human-made methane sources identified globally.
The climate impact of the Silivri emissions is estimated to be comparable to that of 1.5 million petrol-fuelled SUVs. Another landfill in Şile, on the outskirts of Istanbul, was found to release about 4 tonnes of methane every hour, with a warming impact equivalent to roughly 800,000 SUVs. Other large methane-emitting waste sites were identified in İzmir, Ankara and Antalya.
Methane is produced when organic waste such as food decomposes without enough oxygen in landfills. Unlike carbon dioxide, it remains in the atmosphere for a shorter period but has a much stronger warming effect over the near term. The Guardian reported that methane contributes to about a quarter of current global warming, making rapid reductions particularly important for slowing warming in the coming decades.
Methane cuts are a key COP31 priority
The findings come just weeks before Turkey hosts COP31 in Antalya from November 9 to 20. The Turkish presidency has identified zero waste and methane reduction as the top of the action agenda. Murat Kurum, Turkey’s environment minister and COP31 president-designate, has described methane reductions as one of the fastest ways to slow near-term temperature rise.
Turkey’s environmental messaging has also focused heavily on waste reduction. First Lady Emine Erdoğan has promoted zero-waste initiatives internationally and chairs the UN Advisory Board on Zero Waste. Yet Turkey has not signed the Global Methane Pledge, under which participating countries aim to cut methane emissions by 30% from 2020 levels by 2030.
The country’s official greenhouse gas inventory acknowledges that uncontrolled methane releases from landfills are a significant source of waste-sector emissions. However, legislation introduced in August to establish an emissions-monitoring system for some private facilities focuses on carbon dioxide and excludes facilities using biomass, including landfills.
Capturing methane is possible, but prevention matters
Turkey already captures some methane from its landfills. At Silivri, an on-site facility extracts around 6,000 cubic metres of methane per hour and uses it to generate energy. Waste management officials told the Guardian that some of the current emissions come from sections of the landfill that have not yet been covered with clay after waste is deposited. They said covering exposed areas and capturing the gas are priorities.
Experts, however, say simply installing gas-capture systems does not guarantee that methane will be contained. Leaks can occur because of poor maintenance, inefficient collection systems or failures in flaring equipment. Cara Horowitz of UCLA’s Emmett Institute said accurately measuring emissions from landfill super-emitters is an important first step towards addressing them.
Another approach would be to prevent large quantities of organic waste from reaching landfills in the first place. South Korea, for example, recycles almost all of its food waste, reducing the amount of material available to generate methane in landfills. For Turkey, the satellite findings could therefore provide an opportunity to tackle emissions through better waste segregation, organic-waste recycling and more effective methane capture before COP31 begins.
References:
https://law.ucla.edu/news/spotlight-top-25-methane-plumes-2025-landfills
Banner image: Photo by Michael Jerrard on Unsplash
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