Ministry's Zero Liquid Discharge Communiqué: Mandatory in 14 Sectors

A New Threshold in Industrial Wastewater Management

The draft communiqué opened for stakeholder consultation by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change makes the zero liquid discharge (ZLD) approach mandatory in 14 selected industrial sectors by 2030. The communiqué brings the timeline forward to 2028 for plants located in sensitive receiving environment protection zones.

Sectors in Scope

The sector list in the draft includes textile finishing, leather tanning, paper-cellulose, metal plating, automotive sub-industry, food processing (some subcategories), chemicals and pharmaceutical intermediates, electronic component manufacturing, battery and cell production, paint-pigment, mineral oil and solvent recovery, rubber and plastic recycling, textile washing and glass production.

ZLD Definition and Performance Criteria

The communiqué defines ZLD as "recovery of more than 95 percent of process water entering the plant and management of the remainder as solid waste." Measurement methodology is based on automatic flow monitoring, periodic audits and the rate at which recovered water is reused in processes as the determining parameters.

Recommended Technology Set

The Ministry document proposes the following combination as the applicable technology set for plants to reach the ZLD target:

Membrane bioreactor (MBR) pre-treatment
Two-pass reverse osmosis
Mechanical vapour recompression evaporator (MVR)
Crystalliser and solid salt management
Side-stream scaling prevention and economiser

Sector representatives state that ZLD investments create CAPEX of 8-25 million euros per plant and OPEX of 1.2-3.5 million euros per year.

Incentive Package

In addition to the obligation, the communiqué provides parallel investment incentive mechanisms:

40 percent grant for ZLD investments (KOSGEB and TUBITAK coordinated)
Seven-year income tax reduction for renewed plants
Use credit for recovered water
Low-interest access in green bond issuance

Linkage to Export Pressure

The timing of the communiqué clearly reflects the impact of the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and the proposed "Border Water Footprint Mechanism" (CWAM) being prepared alongside it. Turkish manufacturers must measurably reduce their water footprint to maintain exports to the EU. ZLD is one of the most direct ways to reach this goal.

Sector Activity

Following the publication of the draft, a clear pickup is observed in ZLD consulting and EPC tenders, particularly in the textile and leather sectors. For engineering firms, the next three years stand out as a period of capacity expansion and technical team growth.