UK plastic waste pollutes Turkey’s farming irrigation canals

A Guardian investigation has found high levels of microplastics in an irrigation canal in Turkey’s Çukurova plain near Adana, a major destination for British plastic waste. Samples downstream of recycling facilities were 10 times higher than upstream, raising alarms over agricultural contamination and food safety. The UK exported 139,000 tonnes of plastic waste to Turkey in 2025; campaigners call the practice “waste colonialism” and urge a ban on exports. Treaty negotiations resume in 2027.