WorldUK plastic ‘waste colonialism’ found to be polluting Turkey’s farming heartland

A Guardian investigation has found microplastics and other plastic contamination in a waterway near a major recycling hub in Turkey. British companies supply plastic waste to the facility. After heavy rain, the polluted waterway spills into agricultural fields and feeds a larger canal used to irrigate crops. The canal system serves the Çukurova plain near Adana in southern Turkey, one of the country’s largest and most fertile farming basins. The findings frame the pollution as a burden borne by Turkish farmers from Britain’s plastic waste problem.

plastic wastepollutionTurkish agricultureUK exports

TThe Guardian★★★☆☆2026-08-04 09:00Original