Residents in villages near Istanbul have experienced persistent foul odors for years emanating from the Silivri municipal waste facility, a major landfill processing 10,000 tonnes of waste daily. Satellite imagery and analysis by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles reveal that this site releases methane at an average rate of 7.4 tonnes per hour, making it one of the most significant landfill methane emitters globally. The climate impact of this single facility’s emissions is equivalent to approximately 1.5 million SUVs operating at full throttle.
Turkey contains multiple landfills with substantial methane leakage problems distributed across the country, from İzmir in the west to Ankara in the center and Antalya in the south. A second major facility in Şile, on the opposite side of Istanbul, releases approximately 4 tonnes of methane hourly. Researchers from UCLA’s Stop Methane project, using satellite data from the Carbon Mapper portal, identified the 10 highest-emitting landfill sites across Turkey and characterized their emission rates as “mind-bogglingly large” by international standards.
The timing of these findings presents a notable contrast with Turkey’s stated environmental priorities. In November, the country will host Cop31, the UN global climate summit, with methane emission reduction positioned as a central agenda item for international agreement. Turkish leadership, including the country’s first lady and president, has publicly championed waste management improvements and methane cuts on the global stage.
Local residents have struggled to address the problem through conventional channels. Community members have expressed fear regarding potential consequences of publicly complaining about the emissions, citing concerns about government power and citing the detention of Istanbul’s mayor on corruption accusations in 2025. Staff at the facility initially attributed emissions to uncovered waste areas and noted ongoing efforts to capture methane for energy generation, citing improvements since the 1990s when inadequate waste management led to fatal landfill explosions.
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