Toxic Smoke, Plastic Plant Fires On The Rise In Turkey

Experts suspect it's not a coincidence, believing that some entrepreneurs want to get rid of unwanted rubbish sometimes imported from Europe.

The number of fires breaking out in plastic recycling plants has soared in Turkey.

Experts and activists suspect it's not a coincidence, believing that some entrepreneurs want to get rid of unwanted rubbish sometimes imported from Europe.

In Kartepe, an industrial town in the country's north-west, one of these sites was closed by the authorities in December after the outbreak of three fires in less than a month.

One burned for more than 50 hours, spewing toxic black smoke over the area wedged between the mountains and the Sea of Marmara.