.Introduction
Implementation of appropriate solid waste manage-
ment practices requires reliable waste statistics. The
data should represent a sufficiently long time frame
(usually more than a few years), with relatively short
measurement frequencies, to be statistically acceptable.
This manuscript is a product of an effort aimed to
review the existing data on solid waste management
(SWM) in Turkey. Since, solid waste management con-
stitutes one of the major Municipal expenditures; an
additional attempt was made to review the cost data of
solid waste management practices. The characteristics
and costs for managing solid waste alters from one
Municipal application to another and in addition to
demographic facts, it is also a factor of how cost and
solid waste terms are defined. Therefore, the authors
have made an attempt to consolidate some of the solid
waste data representing demographic and social facts of
Turkey. This study can be assumed as a summary of
long-standing efforts in establishing reliable figures on
solid waste characteristics of Turkey