The Mayor of Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality, Fatma Sahin, who attended the first harvest, shared the good news that the strawberries produced in the greenhouse will be given to citizens over the age of 65 living in Gaziantep through the Retirement Card application.
The Metropolitan Municipality continues to invest in zero waste to leave a healthier and greener Gaziantep for future generations. The fully equipped strawberry greenhouse, featuring modern technologies, has been established on an area of 700 square meters, with 640 square meters designated for production and 60 square meters for the heating center.
The greenhouse will utilize 80°C hot water and generate electricity through gas engines using methane gas produced by the regular storage of solid waste. It will employ fully automated soilless farming technology and is expected to produce 8 tons of strawberries a year. These strawberries will be grown in coconut shells with special LED lighting to increase photosynthesis time. The greenhouse will be powered by electricity generated from landfill gas.
Speaking at the project's opening, Mayor Fatma Sahin praised the quality of the strawberries and said, "We will have 8 tons of strawberries a year. We will send the strawberries produced here as a gift to our citizens over the age of 65. When I took office as Metropolitan Mayor in 2014, there were too many flies, and this waste storage area had huge problems. Now we are able to use the energy generated from the waste in this area for strawberry production."
Mayor Fatma Sahin thanked those who contributed to the modernization of the waste storage landfill and said, "We are a team that embodies the Zero Waste Project. We have written an extraordinary success story together, with our solar energy on the one hand, our Zero Waste Project on the other, and the strawberries produced on the third. This is the time when knowledge becomes wisdom. Together we will build a golden age for the 2 million people living in our city by preserving our environment through these projects and setting an example for the growers in our city."
Providing information about energy production from waste, Sahin said that the strawberries will be sent to elderly citizens as a gesture. She remarked, "This was the center where all the waste of Gaziantep was collected. When we arrived, 2 megawatts of energy could hardly be produced. Now we are able to produce 13 megawatts from methane gas. We switched to solar power and are now operating with zero waste. We turned the resulting energy into strawberries. We are the most successful city in Turkey in implementing this circular system. It is the protection of air, water, and soil; consequently, it is the protection of people and their environment. As you know, with the decisions we have made, we are one of the municipalities that make the best use of environment-friendly applications. By gifting these strawberries to retired people, we express our love, care, and respect for them."
Source: Besni Guncel