Japan funds Türkiye quake recycle project

The Japanese government and the United Nations Development Programme have agreed to build facilities to recycle rubble left by Türkiye’s major earthquakes in February in a Japan-funded project.

The disaster killed 50,783 people and destroyed more than 310,000 buildings in southern Türkiye. Workers still continue to demolish and remove damaged buildings.

Japanese Ambassador to Turkey Katsumata Takahiko and UNDP Turkey Resident Representative Louisa Vinton signed the agreement in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Wednesday.

Japanese embassy officials said the UNDP will build two facilities to recycle rubble into construction materials in the coming year with grant aid of about 4.83 million dollars, from Japan.

Officials also said the new facilities will safely remove hazardous wastes, such as asbestos, from the rubble.