Hazardous waste generation in Turkish pesticide industry

The aim of this study is to assess the contribution of pesticide industry to the total amount of hazardous waste generation in Turkey. Pesticide active ingredients, namely methamidophos, humic acid, copper sulphate production facilities and powder, granule and liquid pesticide formulation plants were covered. For pesticide synthesis sector values ranging from 7 to 56 kg of hazardous waste generation per ton of active ingredient produced were obtained. On the other hand, 45–80 kg of hazardous waste generation per ton production was found for pesticide formulation. The evaluation of the unit hazardous waste generation factors with the capacities of Turkish pesticide plants showed that 27,200–42,800 ton hazardous waste was produced annually from this sector. This amount yielded 2–3.2% of the total hazardous waste generation in Turkey.