Solid waste generation and characterization are some of the most important parameters which affect environmental sustainability. Municipal solid waste (MSW) characterization depends on social structure and income levels. This study aims to determine the variations in waste components within MSW mass by income levels and seasonal conditions following the analysis conducted on the characterization of solid wastes produced in the Kartal district of the province of Istanbul, which is the research area of this study. To this end, 1.9 tons of solid waste samples were collected to represent four different lifestyles (high, medium, and low income levels, and downtown) in the winter and summer periods, and characterization was made on these samples. In order to support waste characterization, humidity content and calorific value analyses were also conducted and various suggestions were brought towards waste management in line with the obtained findings. According to the results obtained in the study, organic waste had the highest rate of waste mass by 57.69%. Additionally, significant differences were found in municipal solid waste components (MSWC) based on income level. Average moisture content (MC) of solid waste samples was 71.1% in moisture analyses. The average of calorific (heating) value (HHV) was calculated as 2518.5 kcal·kg⁻¹.

Turkish red pine is an evergreen tree species widely distributed in the Aegean and Mediterranean regions in Turkey. In the present work, the heavy metal pollution level in Istanbul was investigated using Turkish red pine as a biomonitor. For determining heavy metal concentrations (Cd, Co, Cr, Mn, Ni and Pb) in leaf (unwashed and washed) and bark samples of Turkish red pine and its co-located soil samples we used ICP-OES. Additionally, particulate matter profiles of the research areas were investigated. The samples were collected from 5 different localities: 4 from the Bosporus region (Yildiz Grove, Fethi Pasha Grove, Baltalimani Grove and Mihrabad Grove) and one from Prince Island, also known as Buyukada (as control). According to our measurements, the highest heavy metal accumulations (in mg kg-1 DW) in plant part samples were measured between 1.526±0.012 and 1.639±0.015 for Cd, 0.543±0.007 and 0.600±0.009 for Co, 5.110±0.064 and 5.648±0.072 for Cr, 9.347±0.105 and 10.331±0.111 for Mn, 7.483±0.091 and 8.271±0.096 for Ni, and 13.848±0.159 and 14.950±0.167 for Pb, while the highest heavy metal accumulations (in mg kg-1 DW) in soil samples were measured between 1.813±0.021 and 1.974±0.029 for Cd, 6.326±0.082 and 6.992±0.091 for Co, 22.017±0.284 and 23.685±0.301 for Cr, 268.333±3.153 and 297.361±3.529 for Mn, 15.194±0.176 and 16.792±0.193 for Ni, and 68.778±0.715 and 74.514±0.883 for Pb. The highest outdoor particulate matter levels (in μg/m3) in research areas were also determined as 27.103 for fine (PM2.5) and 67.792 for coarse (PM10) aerosols. The findings revealed that Turkish red pine could accumulate noteworthy amounts of heavy metals.

Wastewaters of several industries such as textile, leather or dye etc., contain dangerous and toxic compounds, even some of which are potential carcinogenics. Considering the volume and composition, wastewaters of the textile industry have much more polluting characteristics compared to other industries. Although treatment processes must definitely be implemented in point of environment and living organisms, many factories discharge their wastewaters to acceptor media without any treatment because of high costs. This study investigated zeolite and clay with high availability and low cost in wastewater treatment as more economically feasible alternatives to activated carbon. The wastewater treatment adequacy of zeolite-clay mixture was also investigated. We determined the optimum treatment time for heavy metal removal from the dye-containing wastewater samples as 6 hours. The mixture of clay+zeolite+activated carbon provided the highest removal of Cd, Cu, Mn, Pb, and Zn compared to zeolite, clay, activated carbon, activated carbon+clay, activated carbon+zeolite and clay+zeolite.

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is a significant member of the Solanaceae family with substantial worldwide production. The nutritional content of vegetables affects their metabolic and quality characteristics positively or negatively in many aspects and is one of today’s important research areas. In this study, grown tomato samples collected from fields and greenhouses in nine different cities of Türkiye were analysed for boron, calcium, copper, iron, potassium, magnesium, manganese, sodium, and zinc concentrations using spectroscopy, compared with available studies in terms of fertilization/nutrient uptake status and it was decided whether there is a difference between tomato samples grown in the field and the greenhouse. The study revealed that there are differences between macro and microelement contents of the field and greenhouse-grown tomatoes. Greenhouse tomatoes have greater nutritional element contents since they are protected from external effects and pesticides, growing in a healthy and nutritionally rich manner. The lowest and highest concentrations (mg kg^-1 dry weight) of mineral elements were boron (18.13-28.30), calcium (1277-1836), copper (4.60-9.45), iron (18.86-27.33), potassium (20384-22305), magnesium (1870-2107), manganese (10.12-23.27), Sodium (119.65-209.11) and zinc (15.55-25.41). As a result, tomatoes produced in Türkiye for export to various countries were found to be containing adequate macronutrients according to the relevant literature except for potassium, and micronutrients contents were found to be within the safe limits. Also, considering the percentage of daily Recommended Dietary Allowance values it provides, it can be said that tomatoes are a good source of micronutrients.