Within the scope of the "Olive Sector Waste Management Project" initiated on August 29, 2014 with the contract signed between the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization and TUBITAK Marmara Research Center, a workshop was held on May 6, 2015 in Gebze, TÜBİTAK MAM Conference Hall to compare the alternatives that were examined and cost analyzed for the solution of the wastewater problem arising from the sector in terms of technical and environmental indicators. Representatives of the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, the National Olive and Olive Oil Council, and academicians working on olive oil sector production processes, waste management and their impact on the receiving environment participated in the 'Evaluation of Alternatives in terms of Technical and Environmental Criteria' workshop.
The workshop held on 6 May 2015 started with opening speeches by Prof. Dr. Mehmet KİTİŞ, Director of the Institute of Environment and Cleaner Production on behalf of TÜBİTAK MAM and Ercan GÜLAY, Head of Water and Soil Management Department on behalf of the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, General Directorate of Environmental Management. Afterwards, Dr. Selda MURAT HOCAOĞLU, Project Coordinator from TÜBİTAK MAM Institute of Environment and Cleaner Production, made a presentation on the studies carried out and the results achieved within the scope of the project. After the opening and presentations, information about the study method was given and group work started. The group work consisted of an idea generation and prioritization study in which the positive and negative aspects of the olive oil production process change were discussed, and a comparison of the solution of the wastewater problem and the resulting pomace evaluation alternatives in terms of various technical and environmental criteria such as sustainability, environmental impact, manageability, and space requirements. Through group work, academics with experience in the olive oil sector, representatives of the relevant Ministry and the sector were able to discuss different aspects of the subject.
