The concept has to start somewhere.
My limited experience in Turkey so far, has shown that they are far less likely to throw away anything that could be repaired or re used in some way.
We are very, very wasteful in the UK - and I confess to being a culprit - as a recent visit to my local recycling centre showed. Children's bikes (replaced by shiny new ones at Christmas) in perfect working order, older computers and so much more.