Recovery Participation Fee (GEKAP) Implementation

What is GEKAP and what is its legal basis?

The recovery participation fee (GEKAP, Geri Kazanım Katılım Payı) is based on Additional Article 11 of Environment Law No. 2872 of 9 August 1983 (Official Gazette of 11 August 1983, issue 18132). The article was added to the Environment Law by Law No. 7153 (Official Gazette of 10 December 2018, issue 30621). Under it, for products placed on the domestic market and listed in the schedule (1) annexed to the law, the fee is collected at the amount stated in the list: from points of sale for bags, and from those placing products on the market or from importers for other products.

The details are set out in the Regulation on the Recovery Participation Fee, published in the Official Gazette of 31 December 2019 (issue 30995, 4th repeated issue), and in the Recovery Participation Fee Return General Communiqué (Series No. 1, Official Gazette of 4 April 2019, issue 30735) and its later amendments.

Which products are on the list?

Schedule (1) annexed to the law includes plastic bags, tyres, accumulators, batteries, mineral and vegetable oils, electrical and electronic equipment, medicines, and plastic, metal, composite, paper-cardboard, glass and wooden packaging. The amounts are set per item or per kilogram depending on the product type.

A person placing products on the market or an importer that operates a nationwide deposit system in line with the principles set by the Ministry is exempt from the fee for products it places on the market with a deposit.

How are the amounts updated?

Under the law, the amounts in the list are increased every year, effective from the beginning of the calendar year, by the revaluation rate announced for the previous year under repeated Article 298 of the Tax Procedure Law; fractions that do not exceed 5% of the calculated amounts are disregarded. The President is authorised to raise these amounts up to double or lower them to half.

For 2026, the amounts were announced by the Communiqué (2026/1) of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change, published in the Official Gazette of 30 December 2025 (issue 33123). The Communiqué states the revaluation rate for 2025 as 25.49% and updated the amounts to apply from 1 January 2026. Because the amounts change every year, the communiqué for the relevant year should be checked before paying.

How are the declaration and payment made?

Under the law, the fee is declared to the tax office to which the person is attached by the end of the twenty-fourth day of the month following the month in which the product was placed on the market or imported, and is paid by the end of that same month. Those who are not income or corporate taxpayers declare to a tax office designated by the Revenue Administration.

The Ministry of Treasury and Finance is authorised to re-set the declaration and payment periods, to set return periods as monthly, quarterly or six-monthly and to make electronic filing compulsory. For the current period arrangement, the Revenue Administration's rules should therefore be checked. Fees not declared or declared incompletely on time are collected with interest at the late-payment surcharge rate under Article 51 of Law No. 6183, and amounts collected are recorded as revenue in the general budget.

What happens if the obligation is not met?

Under paragraph (z) of Article 20 of the Environment Law, those found not to have paid the recovery participation fee contrary to Additional Article 11 are given an administrative fine equal to 20% of the fee. Businesses that generate product and packaging waste should also follow the recycling and disposal obligations in waste legislation separately from the fee.