Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s recycling project wins UITP Global Public Transport award

A recycling project carried out by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) within the scope of the country's zero-waste vision was awarded at the Global Public Transport Summit in Sweden, the municipality said in a statement Thursday.

The project, titled "Smart Recycling Container", received "best project prize" competing against some 400 projects from the International Association of Public Transport (UITP).

The summit was held for the 63rd time this year in Stockholm between June 9 and 12.

A total of 373 firms from 80 countries participated in the summit where they presented their newest products and over 15,000 attendees visited the fair.
As part of the IBB's project, Istanbulites can load money/credit onto their public transport cards by recycling materials such as plastic bottles and aluminum beverage boxes via special machines in various public transport stations. The project aims to promote recycling and wider use of public transport.

Founded in 1885, the UITP has members from more than 1,700 institutions worldwide, consisting of public transport operators, central administrations, local governments, industrial organizations, research centers, academics and consultants, and is the largest public transport association in the world.

Headquartered in Brussels, the UITP has offices in Dubai, Moscow, Istanbul, Rome, Sao Paulo, the Ivory Coast, Bangalore, Hong Kong, Astana, New York, Johannesburg, Singapore, and Canberra.