Istanbul landfill generates power but leaks 7.4 tonnes of methane hourly, satellite data finds

The great mountain of domestic refuse outside Istanbul is doing more than just being the last stop for the rubbish of the Turkish city. This organic material breaks down under the surface, producing methane. This methane is captured and converted into electricity.

Waste can be a resource for energy. But even with efforts to cut emissions, huge amounts of the potent greenhouse gas still leak into the atmosphere. As Turkey braces to host the COP31 climate summit, new satellite data have refocused attention on the country’s struggles to curb landfill emissions, reports Reuters.A major methane emitterResearchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) analyzed satellite observations that revealed significant methane emissions from several Turkish landfill sites, Reuters said.

The results were based on publicly available Carbon Mapper data from the Tanager-1 satellite from January 2025 through the end of May 2026.Analysis reported by Reuters found 70 methane plumes across Turkey’s 10 highest emitting waste sites.